Overflow's Great Thread of NASA Knowledge

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Originally Posted by mr_honez

Super cool Pics Overflow!!!

Thank you sir!

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Looks like the NSF group will have to start planning a visit to Johnson Space Center..

Man this is gonna be cool..

Artist concept of the new "The Shuttle and 747 Carrier" exhibit to open at Space Center Houston in 2015. (Space Center Houston)

May 2, 2013 – They say that everything is bigger in Texas and that certainly goes for Space Center Houston's newly-announced space shuttle exhibit.

Space Center Houston, which serves as the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center, revealed plans on Thursday (May 2) to display its full-size space shuttle mockup atop the historic jumbo jetliner that ferried the real orbiters after their return from space and delivered them to their museum homes.

NASA transferred ownership of its original Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 jet, to Space Center Houston on Thursday, setting in motion the visitor center's plans to pair the replica shuttle it received last June with the airplane that landed in Houston five months later.

"This is an exciting day for Texans, as we accept the SCA from NASA and assume the awesome responsibility for its modifications, showcasing its legacy and adding a one-of-a-kind experience to our complex," said Richard Allen, president and CEO of Space Center Houston. "We look forward to accepting the challenge of raising funds for this amazing endeavor as we prepare for the next phase of this major expansion."

The new $12 million outdoor complex, named "The Shuttle and 747 Carrier," is to open to the public in February 2015.



A gantry-like structure will give Space Center Houston guests the chance to enter both the shuttle and 747. (Space Center Houston)


"The Shuttle and 747 Carrier will give visitors the world's first and only all-access pass to an authentic and realistic journey through the inside of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft as well as an unforgettable experience aboard the full-scale shuttle model," Space Center Houston stated in a release. "The up close and personal access to American aviation history will reveal the shuttle program's amazing ingenuity, clever innovation and awe-inspiring complexity."

An artist's rendering of the planned exhibit shows the 747 jumbo jet, known by its tail number "NASA 905," parked outside Space Center Houston where the shuttle mockup sits today. A gantry-like structure sits next to the air- and spacecraft combo that will provide visitors the opportunity to climb inside both vehicles.

The carrier aircraft is currently at Ellington Field, home to Johnson Space Center's aircraft operations, located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Space Center Houston. To get the aircraft to the visitor center, its wings and tail will be removed, and its fuselage will be sectioned in three.

The jumbo jet is expected to be in place at Space Center Houston by this November. The work to hoist the 130,000-pound (60,000-kilogram) shuttle mockup atop the airplane will follow during the first quarter of 2014.

Before the model orbiter leaves the ground however, it will need to undergo some repairs and modifications, including the installation of attachment hardware to mount it on the back of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Space Center Houston also plans to upgrade the interior of the mockup, including replacing its early-shuttle analog flight deck displays and controls with the "glass cockpit" digital version that was in use later in the program.



Space Center Houston's full-size space shuttle mockup went on display outside the visitor center in 2012. (Space Center Houston)


The shuttle mockup arrived in Houston by barge from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, where it debuted in 1993. Known then by the name "Explorer," it was designed and built by aerospace replica manufacturer Guard-Lee, Inc. using schematics, blueprints, and archival documents provided by NASA and the shuttle contractors.

NASA 905 was one of two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in the space agency's fleet. Its final flight for the shuttle program was to deliver the retired orbiter Endeavour to Los Angeles for the California Science Center last year. The jumbo jet's final overall flight was in December, when it was flown for an hour-and-a-half proficiency flight from Ellington.

In service to the shuttle program for 35 years, NASA 905 flew 70 out of the 87 ferry flights during the space shuttle program's operational phase, including 46 of the 54 post-mission flights from the Dryden Flight Research Center in California to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Converted from an American Airlines passenger jet, 905 was NASA's first SCA and it flew the 1977 approach and landing tests with the prototype orbiter Enterprise.

Space Center Houston plans The Shuttle and 747 Carrier exhibit to be more than a public attraction, but also serve as the centerpiece for new educational programs to inspire students to consider careers in math and science fields.

[SIM Curly]

Reminds me of ours except theirs is cooler

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May 9, 2013 — Like the pull from a looming planet, the first trailer for director Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity," starring actors George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts, draws in moviegoers.

The one-and-a-half minute teaser, which Warner Brothers Pictures released online Thursday (May 9), provides a first glimpse at the highly-anticipated film, which has been in development since 2010. "Gravity" is scheduled to launch into theaters on Oct. 4, on the anniversary of the launch of the world's first satellite, Sputnik, in 1957.

In the film, Clooney plays Matt Kowalsky, an experienced astronaut commanding his last mission aboard the space shuttle. His crew includes first-time mission specialist Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock), a medical engineer. According to a synopsis, the two astronauts are out performing a routine spacewalk when the shuttle is destroyed and they are left stranded, with no way of communicating with Earth.

The trailer opens with an astronaut's view of Earth as seen from space. "Beautiful, don't you think?" Clooney remarks from off-screen.

The seemingly-peaceful moment, now showing Clooney and Bullock in spacesuits, tethered together, floating over the limb of the planet, is quickly replaced with a torrent of violent shots, alternating between a space shuttle being torn apart, what looks to be the Hubble Space Telescope being significantly damaged and a Russian Soyuz capsule tearing through an exploding International Space Station.

The sound of an ever-increasing heart beat serves as the backdrop to the next scenes of Bullock being thrown into open space. "What do I do? What do I do!" she yells, as Clooney replies over radio, "Grab a hold. Grab anything!"

As the preview comes to an end, it is Bullock whispering "Anybody, please copy..." as she tumbles head over feet into the black void of space.

A similar theme, underlined by the tagline "Don't Let Go," appears on the movie's first official poster, also released this week. The blue and black poster depicts an astronaut flailing backwards, his (or her) tether having snapped, as he or she falls away from the space shuttle amid a cloud of space debris.

Despite it featuring NASA spacecraft and spacesuits, the film sought little assistance from the U.S. space agency. According to NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs, the agency's only involvement was to arrange a phone call between the filmmakers and astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman.

"Gravity" is Cuarón's first feature film since the Academy Award-nominated science fiction drama "Children of Men" in 2006. The son of a nuclear physicist, Cuarón has said in interviews that he always wanted to be an astronaut, as well as a director.

This is Bullock's first "trip" into space. Clooney previously strapped on a spacesuit as astronaut Chris Kelvin in the 2002 sci-fi movie "Solaris" by director Steven Soderbergh.

Warner Bros. will release "Gravity" in 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX.

[SIM Curly]

So are they trying to get back to earth or is it like that Ocean movie where the couple goes scuba diving and the boat accidently leaves them and its just them floating in the water the rest of the time until they die.

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Originally Posted by SIM Curly

Reminds me of ours except theirs is cooler

But yours has much more history than Houston's.

It's name is Pathfinder. Also known as OV-098 (Space Shuttle Challenger is OV-099). It was made in 1977 and is composed of wood and steel. At the Marshall Flight Center, it was used to test fitment checks. After, it was sent to the Kennedy Space Center for ground crew training in the Vehicle Assembly Building, Shuttle Landing Facility, and Orbiter Processing Facilities. It's 8 feet short than an actual orbiter.







After it was done testing, it was sent into storage for many years. Then, it was purchased by a Japanese Organization to used for The Great Space Shuttle Exposition in Japan from 1983 to 1984. They modified it to make it look more like the space-worthy orbiters. After, it was returned to the US and put on display in Alabama.

[SIM Curly]

Neat i didnt know that! That last pic you can see the "toilet paper roll" space camp housing unit we stayed in

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Hey Space Camp is cool! I wish I was young enough to do KSCVC's this year!

[Dznts]

[SIM Curly]

Originally Posted by Overflow

Hey Space Camp is cool! I wish I was young enough to do KSCVC's this year!

It was very cool just the design is funny looks like toilet paper

[shank0668]

Did jordy get a project car yet?

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Originally Posted by Dznts

Originally Posted by SIM Curly

It was very cool just the design is funny looks like toilet paper

It does!

Originally Posted by shank0668

Did jordy get a project car yet?

Nope. And I'm out of town for the next two weeks, so it may have to sit on the back burner for now.

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Atlantis' payload bay doors have been opened:

[SIM Curly]

Watch the ISS space walk?