Forty-five story garage doors cause problems for NASA

William Atkins
Saturday, 15 September 2007 20:32

Science - Space

Microsoft Office 365

The repairs on the doors, which face the launch pads and the corrosive moist and salty ocean winds that come off the Atlantic Ocean, began several years ago. They were supposed to have been finished last year, but the work is behind schedule. It is not expected to be finished until October or November in 2007.

Two bays are normally in use so two shuttles can be prepared at the same time. With one bay down for repairs, space shuttle Discovery is still inside the VAB being prepared for its STS-120 flight on October 23, 2007. It will deliver the Harmony (Node 2) module to the International Space Station, which will be used to attach international science modules.

Repairs to the foam on Discovery’s external tank are causing it to be inside the VAB longer than usual. The foam problem was found during the last mission, when Endeavour, and STS-118, had the same problem (a piece of foam fell off the external tank and cut a deep hole in two of the heat-resistant tiles on the belly of the orbiter).

Discovery will be rolled out of the VAB and onto the launch pad about one month later than originally planned. It is scheduled to be rolled out near the end of September, and Atlantis will be rolled in at that time to prepare it for its December 6, 2007 launch of STS-122. It will carry the European Columbus science laboratory to the space station, which will be attached to Harmony. Atlantis must launch by December 13, or delay its launch until early in 2008, being constrained by mission requirements.

Shuttles are put inside the VAB to they can be “mated” (or “stacked”) with their external fuel tank (ET) and two solid-rocket boosters (SRBs). The VAB is the largest one-story building in the world. It is 525 feet (160 meters) tall, 716 feet (218 meters) long, and 518 (158 meters) wide. Its interior (usable) volume is approximately 129,428,000 cubic feet (3,664,000 cubic meters).

Built in 1966, the VAB was originally used to assemble the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program. Once the Space Transportation System (STS) program is finished in 2010, it will be used to assemble the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the manned Onion space capsule for the new Constellation program. It will also be used for the Ares V unmanned launch vehicle, which will help in launching lunar vehicles and astronauts to the Moon later in the program.