#launch complex 39

[nocternalrandomness]

Apollo 10 Saturn V rocket - May 17th 1969

(Official NASA archive photo)

[gemini-enthusiast]

More pictures from the new Gantry at LC39 at KSC. I brought my DSLR this time, and so was able to get some awesome new pics. The views of LC39a are just phenomenal and if you've got a sharp eye, you can spot as far as the work on LC37 and some of the buildings out on the station.

LC-39a, where every mission to the Moon was launched. Now leased out to SpaceX. Notice the bundle of lines leading down from the tower? Those are the crew escape wires! If something is about to go wrong with a ship, they can ride down (usually on a little basket) to a spot where they can safely evacuate the area.

LC-40. A little hazier to see than 39, primarily due to the distance and the fact the humidity was next level. They launch Falcon 9s from this pad. It had been used primarily for satellite launches, but I actually got to see the first crewed launch from this pad with the launch of Crew-9.

SLC-41. This one also recently became crew-rated, with the launch of Starliner aboard an Atlas V. Prior to the Atlas V, it hosted the Titan III and IV. It also now serves as the launchpad for Vulcan, ULA's newest vehicle.

The Vertical Integration Facility, used by ULA to stack their rockets. Essentially, ULA's version of the VAB. Previously used primarily for Atlas, it is now also used for Vulcan. ULA used to have another facility, the Mobile Service Tower, but it was retired and demolished following the retirement of the Delta IV rocket.

[nocternalrandomness]

"T-Plus 30" by Aviation Artist Mark Waki

The Space Shuttle Discovery completes its roll to heading and begins its pitchover maneuver about 30 seconds after liftoff from Pad B of Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39.

Artists Note: It's actually T-Plus 23, but T-Plus 30 was decided on for the painting's title. Discovery is about 5,000 feet AGL, has completed 179 degrees of roll to heading and is pitched over about 20 degrees. The vehicle is gaining altitude at 500 feet per second while accelerating at 1.8g

[spaceflight-insider]

EchoStar 23 set for launch atop SpaceX Falcon 9 at KSC

EchoStar 23 set for launch atop SpaceX Falcon 9 at KSC

An artist’s illustration of EchoStar 23. Image Credit: Space Systems/Loral.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is set to launch its second Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. Liftoff is targeted for the beginning of a 2.5-hour long window that opens at 1:34 a.m. EDT (05:34 GMT) March 14, 2017. (more…)

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[projecthabu]

     Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center, on Northern Merritt Island, Florida, was built in the mid-1960s, to launch the Saturn V moon rocket for peaceful exploration of space. Over the years, this complex launched every Saturn V, Saturn IB, all the Space Shuttle missions, and an Ares I rocket. Needless to say, this is the most iconic launch facility in history. The complex is split into two launch pads; 39A and 39B. Both pads launched Saturn rockets and shuttles, but the future of these pads will tell very different stories.

     The first photo in the set shows the crawlerway leading out to Launch Pad 39A. This path holds the weight of the crawler transporter as it moves the launch vehicles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad. The second and third photos display the pad itself, which is now owned by SpaceX. As you can see, the shuttle launch tower is still in place, but this will eventually be scrapped, and SpaceX will convert the area for use with the Falcon 9 Heavy rocket. When this vehicle launches, it will be the most powerful rocket currently flying. The fourth photo shows a Liquid Hydrogen tank, which stored propellant for the space shuttle.

     Photo number five shows Launch Pad 39B, photographed from Launch Control Center, 3.5 miles away. The sixth photo shows the pad up close. NASA removed the shuttle launch tower from this facility, and constructed three large towers, used for lightning suppression, shown up close in the seventh photo. This pad configuration allows multiple types of launch vehicles to operate here, and will allow commercial companies to rent the facility when NASA doesn't need it. NASA's primary use for 39B will focus around the enormous Space Launch System (SLS), which is the most powerful rocket in history, edging out the Saturn V boosters that previously launched here. 

     The SLS mobile launch platform and tower, stored next to the Vehicle Assembly Building, can be seen in in the eighth photo. Our final photo shows a shuttle mobile launch platform next to the new SLS launch platform and tower. 

[graviton1066]

(02/13/2014) -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – One of four new emergency egress vehicles, called Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protection, or MRAP, vehicles sits near space shuttle-era M-113 vehicles at the Maintenance and Operations Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The MRAPs arrived from the U.S. Army Red River Depot in Texarkana, Texas in December 2013. The vehicles were processed in and then transported to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility near the Vehicle Assembly Building for temporary storage. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy led the efforts to an emergency egress vehicle that future astronauts could quickly use to leave the Launch Complex 39 area in case of an emergency. During crewed launches of NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, the MRAP will be stationed by the slidewire termination area at the pad. In case of an emergency, the crew will ride a slidewire to the ground and immediately board the MRAP for safe egress from the pad. The new vehicles replace the M-113 vehicles that were used during the Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

[graviton1066]

Skylab 4 launch view 

(16 Nov. 1973) -- The Skylab 4/Saturn 1B space vehicle is launched from Pad B, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 9:01:23 a.m., Friday, Nov. 16, 1973. Skylab 4 is the third and last of three scheduled manned Skylab missions. Photo credit: NASA