MIT Nasa Field Trip Circa Jan 2007

Introduction

The Spring of 2007, I was lucky enough to be part of a field trip to NASA while completing a masters program at MIT. This article chronicles my three day trip.

Day 1

Thanks the Shawn Qwinn, my cohort and NASA engineer, we had a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience to get a NASA experience few others get. It was, pardon the cliche, an ‘out-of-the-world experience. The day began early, with Shawn’s informative overview of our agenda and NASA. NASA is divided into four mission directorates,

Aeronautics
Space Operations (Shuttle)
Science (Mars Rover, Hubble, Explorer)
Exploration System(Next Space craft)

In 2004 Pres. Bush announced the new Space Exploration Vision.This includes

Completion of the space station
Safely fly the shuttle
Moon landing by 2010
Mars landing by 2020

The Kennedy Space Center

140,000 acres
15000 employees
1.6B budget
National wildlife refuge

NASA Field trip Day 1 9:20-10:15

The Space Station Processing Facility(SSPF) The ISS(International Space Station) is the brightest object in the night sky, second only to the moon. The SSPF was built in 1995 and is for supporting the ground operations of the ISS.

NASA Field trip Day 1 10:35-11:05

The Lauch Control Center The wall of the lobby (Top,) display mementos from every launch from NASA. The lobby also has some artwork, (Middle), The picture at the bottom displays the old control center.

NASA Field trip Day 1 11:20-12:35

The KSC Conference Center or the ‘Beach House’ This cosy little house was used by astraunauts and their families on the eve of their launch. The basement has a showcase of wine bottles- souveniers from many trips. Each bottle displays a logo from its respective trip

NASA Field trip Day 1 12:50-2:00

Launch Complex 39B This facility was used in the Appolo and shuttle missions (Photos from those missions are displayed below.)

NASA Field trip Day1 2:00-2:20

Vehicle Assembly Building Shown here is the belly of Atlantis, built from Aluminium tiles. Each tile is unique and is made from strict specifications. We were amazed to see how light each of these tiles were!

NASA Field trip Day1 2:40-3:10

Crawler Transporter: Mobile launch platform These beauties carry the shuttle to the launch site. they travel a maximum of 2 miles per hour. Carrying masses on them, they crush the gravel under them. They look like they were straight out from a Star Wars film. (They would be stuck in the mud if they were to travel anywhere else) The gravel is specially imported from Arkansas

NASA Field trip Day1 3:30-4:10

Orbiter Launch Facility

NASA Field trip Day 2 8:35-1050

Atlas Spaceflight Operations Control Center and Pad 4 NASA has launched about 70-80 un-manned vehicles in space, only a couple of which have failed. 30-40 launches are planned for the future.

NASA Field trip Day 2-2 8:35-1050