"Pre-Flight Activities, Rarely Seen by the General Public"

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odysseus145

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LINK<br /><br />I just came across this site that has a lot of pictures of the shuttle being assembled before flight. It starts with the external tank being shipped to the VAB until liftoff. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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qso1

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Excellent link/pics. This is a side of spaceflight not seen much by the public to be sure. Sometimes there are good books that cover it a little. The same sort of processing (ET barge, stacking in the VAB) was utilized for the Apollo program. Saturn 5 first stages were also transported by barge to KSC. The third stages were transported by a bloated aircraft called the super guppy. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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dreada5

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Good link. I haven't seen some of those before.<br /><br />Btw, for such a behemoth effort, its no wonder shuttling people/cargo to space is so expensive. I think lunar/martian missions will be a far better purpose for all that infrastructure and workforce.
 
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jimfromnsf

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Just be aware, there are errors in captions and the sequencing is wrong in some places
 
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CalliArcale

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<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>The third stages were transported by a bloated aircraft called the super guppy<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Minor nitpick because I have a thing for these weird-looking airplanes....<br /><br />The one that transported the S-IVBs was affectionately called the Pregnant Guppy. (It also appears slightly out of period and operated by the wrong people in the Dr Who novel "First Frontier", an otherwise enjoyable book about what *really* happened at Roswell, supposedly.) The Super Guppies are a little bit bigger and more capable, built to meet demand for oversized cargo shipping following the high-profile success of the Pregnant Guppy. They are all operated by Aero Space Lines, which developed the aircraft. It has a connection of sorts to the Airbus Beluga as well.<br /><br />Somewhere on the web I saw a video of an S-IVB being stuffed into the original Pregnant Guppy. It's quite impressive. You seriously wonder how that thing gets off the ground; it almost looks like a cartoon airplane, with its huge fuselage and tiny little wings. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
 
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nwade

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Minor diversion on the Guppy:<br /><br />There's an awesome 1-hour documentary about the Van Nuys airport and history of flight called "One Six Right" (http://www.onesixright.com/) that is really cool. They spend a few minutes talking about the guys behind the Guppy and its early flights there. There are a few short clips of them winching the two halves of the airplane together (literally AROUND the booster) and bolting it together with the payload stuffed inside... Totally wild stuff!<br /><br />--Noel<br />
 
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qso1

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CalliArcale:<br />Minor nitpick because I have a thing for these weird-looking airplanes....<br /><br />Me:<br />Ah yes, I recall that now. Thanks for pointing that out. I have an image in one of my books at home showing the Pregnant Guppy being loaded with the S-IVB stage. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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drwayne

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There is a certain irony in that the plane started its design life as a very streamlined, long range design - the B-29.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>
 
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drwayne

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Certainly still in use, more heavily of late....<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>
 
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jimfromnsf

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"The one that transported the S-IVBs was affectionately called the Pregnant Guppy."<br /><br />there were two versions NASA used<br />Pregnant Guppy which hauled the S-IV stage<br />Super Guppy which hauled the S-IVB stage, Lunar modules, F-1 engines.<br /><br />The Super Guppy is still in use and has hauled station components
 
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drwayne

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I remember seeing the pregnant guppy when I was young in Huntsville - as opposed to later when I was old in Huntsville. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>
 
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