Atlantis on the Move!

One of the major events that takes place before a launch is called rollover. This is when the orbiter flying the next mission is moved from its home in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Inside the VAB the orbiter is picked up and attached to the other shuttle pieces before being moved to the launch pad.

Rollover of Atlantis for the March launch was this week and Emma's Astronaut was there. We met a friend of mine at Kennedy Space Center around 5:45 on Wednesday morning to go watch together. First Motion – the time when the vehicle begins moving – was scheduled for 6am. It was still dark, it was cold for Florida, and there were very few people around.

This is a shot of Atlantis inside the OPF before it began moving. The three large red circles are covers for the engines. I tried to get a picture of the astronaut with this in the background, but it was still too dark.

NASA's website says that first motion wasn't until 6:19am. Within half an hour the sun was rising,

and Atlantis was out of the OPF.

We watched the rollover from the side of the road Atlantis had to travel between the OPF and VAB. After they backed it out, they drove it right past us.

Photo: Mike G.

During all of this many people saw Emma's astronaut and asked me what I was doing. Everybody I explained the project to thought it was a great idea and several offered to help. One also asked if she had a name. I've decided to call her Myca, which is short for “My Cousin's Astronaut". NASA uses a lot of acronyms. Sooner or later I was going to be infected too.

Unfortunately Atlantis didn't stop moving just because I stopped to talk, so I missed the rest of the rollover. My friend Mike followed it without me and got a great picture of Atlantis outside of the VAB.

Photo: Mike G.

Later that night I took Myca back to the VAB to see Atlantis waiting for lift. This is when we pick up the orbiter, flip it, and lift it into place to be connected to the other pieces of the shuttle. Mike came with me again and we got there just as they finished flipping Atlantis to the vertical position.

Photo: Mike G.

Next we went up to the 5^th floor to get a little closer.

Photo: Mike G.

Photo: Mike G.

Then we waited a few hours for the lift to start. During that time we went back to the External Tank (ET) holding cells to look at the pieces it would be attached to. The orange part is the same ET from the first stop. The two white pieces are the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. When put together like this we call the whole thing the stack. The large concrete strip running through the middle of the picture is the walkway the orbiter has to be lifted over before it can get attached. I would guess it's between 150 and 200 ft. high.

There wasn't much light where we were, so I couldn't get a good picture of Myca with the stack in the background. I was also afraid of dropping her from 267ft. up. I decided it was better to leave her someplace safe before we went back up for the lift. While I was doing that, Mike was on the ground floor as they started to raise Atlantis.

Photo: Mike G.

We rushed back to the elevator to get on the ET holding cells and watched Atlantis slowly rise up in front of us. It was an amazing sight.

After the orbiter is raised it is moved over the stack. At this point it is still at an angle, and must be twisted so it fits right when it is lowered.

This is where the orbiter stopped before I left. After 18 hours at the space center I was very tired and ready to go home.

Thanks this week go to Mike for his help with the pictures, to Bill for getting us back to the ET cells, and to Lyle and Christy for talking with us as we waited for the lift. It was a long day, but it was definitely worth it.

Atlantis is now attached to the stack and being worked on before rollout next week. I don't know when that is scheduled for, but I plan to have Myca there as well.