Astronomy and physics professor, co-host at The Orbital Mechanics, and officially a Superhuman - cats, spaceflight, ζ₯ζ¬θͺ, gardening, and video games.
Back in 2000, a broken cleat delayed the launch of STS-97. The mission eventually took off, and the five-person crew brought supplies to and did work on the International Space Station π
The scale of the crawler-transporter is just incredible...
(πΈ - archive.org/details/KSC-...) #space
And here's the CT (crawler-transporter) moving away from the shuttle stack / MLP a little bit later.
You can get a good sense of what the CT does from this photo - it maneuvers underneath the platform holding the shuttle, picks it up with that flat surface, and carries it to and from the pad π
And here's the CT (crawler-transporter) moving away from the shuttle stack / MLP a little bit later.
You can get a good sense of what the CT does from this photo - it maneuvers underneath the platform holding the shuttle, picks it up with that flat surface, and carries it to and from the pad π
Image from the Kennedy Space Center of the crawler-transporter moving away the shuttle stack and MLP after depositing them at the pad. You can see the operator/driver in the cab and get a sense of the scale π
archive.org/details/KSC-...#space
Image from the Kennedy Space Center of the crawler-transporter moving away the shuttle stack and MLP after depositing them at the pad. You can see the operator/driver in the cab and get a sense of the scale π
archive.org/details/KSC-...#space
Here is an incredible 360-degree view of the cables, and how the dollies holding them are lined up with their corresponding interfaces on the MLP π·
nasatech.net/ntSubPad39A/...#space
Here's what it looks like on Google Earth ππ
It lies on the military base side of the Cape (Cape Canaveral Space Force Station), not the civilian side (Kennedy Space Center) where the iconic Launch Complex 39A and 39B are.
It's not much, but I've added my first plant to the local community #garden πͺ΄
My neighbor invited me to contribute as "the succulents guy" pretty much. My mother of millions was getting too big for her upcycled beer bucket (and started growing aerial roots), so I hope she likes her new home.
This is how she looked last August.
I can understand how they're considered invasive/weeds in some places - they propagate wildly (hence the name) from the little pods that grow in rows along the leaves.
I made the mistake to follow this account (and corresponding feed) cause I love my succulents, but oh boy should this be added to the pantheon of ridiculous AI horseshit spam.
βΌοΈThis captures just how many cables needed to be connected from the 9099 Building to the Mobile Launch Platform / MLP.
(This is in addition to that of the quoted tweet, and elsewhere...)
Again, these umbilicals go from the pad --> platform. Forget everything going into Shuttle itself! π΅
They chopped the LUT off, plopped it on the ground (it was previously on the Mobile Launcher), and named it the Fixed Service Structure (FSS).
So the stuff that went through the UIP and needed to go to the FSS was basically preserved but now redirected *sideways* with new pipes πͺ
#space
They chopped the LUT off, plopped it on the ground (it was previously on the Mobile Launcher), and named it the Fixed Service Structure (FSS).
So the stuff that went through the UIP and needed to go to the FSS was basically preserved but now redirected *sideways* with new pipes πͺ
#space
The Utilities Interface Platform (UIP) used to bring potable water, air, etc. from various systems from the pad deck (or apron) *up* to the Apollo Mobile Launcher and Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT).
But in the shuttle era, the LUT was moved...
(From 16streets.com)
The Utilities Interface Platform (UIP) used to bring potable water, air, etc. from various systems from the pad deck (or apron) *up* to the Apollo Mobile Launcher and Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT).
But in the shuttle era, the LUT was moved...
(From 16streets.com)
You might think the crawler-transporter is the whole thing carrying the shuttle, but it isn't. There's the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) that the CT picks up, and then the shuttle stack lies on top of the MLP.
The 2nd image shows just the CT, w ppl for scale.
πΈ - Kennedy Space Archive and Wikipedia
You might think the crawler-transporter is the whole thing carrying the shuttle, but it isn't. There's the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) that the CT picks up, and then the shuttle stack lies on top of the MLP.
The 2nd image shows just the CT, w ppl for scale.
πΈ - Kennedy Space Archive and Wikipedia
Just a neat pic where you can see indentations in the dirt from the crawler-transporter's treads. Those vehicles (there are two of them) are hefty, weighing 2,721 metric tons each.
#space
Just a neat pic where you can see indentations in the dirt from the crawler-transporter's treads. Those vehicles (there are two of them) are hefty, weighing 2,721 metric tons each.
#space
@andrasgaspar.bsky.social, The Unitβ’οΈ is still going strong, and their cuttings are doing great, too π΅
The first image has at least four mini chollas w/ seven new branches growing among them and a snow prickly pear with one new paddle (~4x the size of the cutting).
This prickly pear (opuntia) bounced back in a big way. And the paddles I've propagated are just immediately forming their own paddles within a few days π΅
Fun fact - the Orlan space suit (ΠΡΠ»Π°Π½, "sea eagle") has a little window on top so the cosmonauts (or astronauts) can see above them π¨βππ·πΊ
On that note, not only Russian cosmonauts have used the suits. On the ISS, American, European, and other astronauts have donned those suits. too.
I swear these cats and their peanut-sized brains. Bok Choy has decided lately he needs to meow at me and harass me every morning so that I get up and follow him to his food bowl, which is full because of course it is it always is itβs attached to a hopper and I never let it get empty π±
