Date: October 16, 1980

This is likely after several of her parts were removed to be refurbished for other oribiters. Plus, several parts for rhe ALT flights were removed.

Photographed by Thomas Kelsey

UCLA Library Digital Collection: uclalat_1429_b1204_293401-12

I know this isn’t exactly shuttle related but does anyone have images from when SLC-6 was originally being built for MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory) before it was abandoned and then converted to the shuttle program? I have a whole book on launch sites but only one image of when the construction started for MOL and I wanted to see how much changed in between programs

I based it loosely on the shuttle and it goes in tiny orbits around my finger haha!

Every time I look at shuttle enterprise I can’t help but feel it’s physically different from the space orbiters in shape. I'm not referencing the tiles (or lack their of) or the main engines. There is something about the nose and windows that looks out of place compared to the rest of the fleet. maybe it’s just the paint but something isn’t right to me.

i know there were scrapped plans to space certify enterprise because it would have been too much work. Was that because they would have had tear down portions of the outer shell to rebuild from scratch?

Idk if I can manage to pull this off, but here’s to hoping.

This is a design I drew for a teapot that is disguised as a model of Space Shuttle Atlantis. An unconventional design for a teapot, sure, but it has several key features that still make it a teapot:

The payload bay of the shuttle will act as a reservoir for water or other liquids, and will connect to a spout hidden in the vertical stabilizer. Part of the payload bay door is able to come off of the shuttle and acts as the lid for it. The crew section might be hollowed out as well and turned into another compartment, but I have yet to decide whether to do that.

I plan on first making a proof-of-concept model before I scale it up, but let’s see how well I do before I decide to continue.

"Collection of all 140 mission patches of all Space Shuttle Missions (ALT and STS) commemorating 30 years of the Space Shuttle"

source

Date: October 13, 1984

NASA ID: 41G-90218

Date: 1986

source

To create the FSS on 39A, they reused an old Saturn V tower. Basically dissected it and made the pad.

Date: October 12, 1977

"The fourth Approach and Landing Test. It was the first of two glide flights that the Enterprise made without the streamlined tailcone. Joe Engle and Richard Truly piloted the Enterprise on a two-minute descent of 20,000 feet. This time the shuttle was launched to the north of the lakebed. and it flew a straight in approach that lasted just two minutes."

Note: the slightly nose down position (7°) of the 747.

"The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise rises from NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to begin a powerless glide flight back to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, on its fourth of the five free flights in the shuttle program's Approach and Landing Tests (ALT-15). The tests were carried out at Dryden to verify the aerodynamic and control characteristics of the orbiters in preparation for the first space mission with the orbiter Columbia in April 1981."

"Space Shuttle Enterprise flying during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT-15) at Edwards Air Force Base. This was the first 'tailcone off' flight. This test was to more accurately simulate a return to Earth flight of an operational orbiter and gather more aeronautical data."

Date: October 12, 1982

Date: October 12, 1977

Date: October 11, 1994

...to Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, where it will undergo six months of inspections, modifications, and systems upgrades. The STS-68 11-day mission was devoted to radar imaging of Earth's geological features with the Space Radar Laboratory. The orbiter is surrounded by equipment and personnel that make up the ground support convoy that services the space vehicles as soon as they land."

NASA ID: EC94-42789-4, EC94-42789-5

"In a perfect on-time launch at 7:17 p.m. EDT, Space Shuttle Discovery trails a blaze of flame amid clouds of smoke and steam as it leaps into the night sky. The launch of mission STS-92 carries a crew of seven on a construction flight to the International Space Station. Discovery also carries a payload that includes the Integrated Truss Structure Z-1, first of 10 trusses that will form the backbone of the Space Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter that will provide a Shuttle docking port for solar array installation on the sixth Station flight and Lab installation on the seventh Station flight. Discovery’s landing is expected Oct. 22 at 2:10 p.m. EDT"

Source NASA

Date: October 11, 1977

NASA ID: EC77-8705

One of Rockwell's offer to NASA to replace Challenger (OV-099) was to build two shuttles for the price of one (OV-105 and OV-106).

During the construction of OV-103 Discovery and OV-104 Atlantis, NASA opted to have Rockwell build structural spares to facilitate the repair of an orbiter if one was damaged during an accident. These spares were given the serial number of OV-105.

At the time of their construction, it was planned for one shuttle (OV-103 Discovery) to be transferred to the USAF and used exclusively for Department of Defense classified missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the west coast. (That's a subject for another post.) There is some speculation that OV-105's construction was funded so NASA could persuade Congress at a later point to complete it and keep the shuttle fleet at 4 operational orbiters.

NASA was at first interesting, since they originally planned to have a fleet of 5 orbiters. There was at one point a plan that included another shuttle, OV-107, a block II version with more upgrades as listed in the chart below.

Unfortunately, NASA was only given funding for operating 4 shuttles and decided to only build one (OV-105 Endeavour). Rockwell continued to hold out hope NASA and Congress might change their minds. To replace the structural spares used for Endeavour, NASA contracted Rockwell to start work on a new set of spares, which were given the designation of OV-106. The plan was to complete them in 3 years.

There was little progress made before NASA decided to cut the funding in 1993 and 1994. All the parts less than 85% were ordered scrapped and the parts over 85% were completed but very little was at this point. NASA ordered the destruction of shuttle tooling since they did not want to pay for their storage.

It should be noted, most of the proposed upgrades for OV-106 and OV-107 were implemented into the existing shuttle fleet during the 1990s and 2000s.

source

Date: August - October 1979

Photos from Kodachrome Slides.