The expensive and problem-ridden SLC-6 complex itself came under increasing fire as critics urged rapid development of new expendable launch vehicles capable of boosting heavy payloads into polar orbit. These problems delayed the initial operation of SLC-6 as well as the KH-12's debut, which, prior to the cancellation of West coast shuttle operations, was scheduled for the second Vandenberg shuttle flight. However, the SLC-6 (pronounced slick six) facility was plagued by problems, including faulty construction, unanticipated operational hazards such as the weather, and the need for augmentation shuttle in order to boost the heavy KH-12. The satellite needed a polar orbit for coverage, and VAFB "could provide near polar and retrograde azimuth launches which could not be achieved efficiently or safely from Kennedy." (3) The importance of accommodating the new generation reconnaissance satellite was DOD's underlying rationale for a West coast launch site. The Advanced KEYHOLE was a driving force behind the decision to build the the Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB). "We have spent nearly $3 billion on a facility that will not work and may not even be needed." Senator Jim Sasser (2) Introduction: "The usual pattern at the base is to pretend that everything's just fine until press reports appear showing that the facts are otherwise." - An "observer" quoted in Military Space. Follow for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter and on Facebook. You can follow senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter. Discovery will go to the Smithsonian, which is why Enterprise is being shipped out to New York.Ītlantis will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, while the California Science Center in Los Angeles gets Endeavour. ![]() The remaining orbiters are headed to museum retirement homes. The space shuttle fleet was grounded after Atlantis' STS-135 mission landed this past July. "After Challenger was lost, NASA briefly considered retrofitting Enterprise to become its replacement, but ultimately found using the spare components left over from building Discovery and Atlantis to assemble Endeavour a more cost-effective approach," Pearlman said. The Challenger tragedy spurred NASA officials to think about sending Enterprise to space, Pearlman said. Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff in January 1986, killing all seven crewmembers onboard. Ĭolumbia made the shuttle program's first spaceflight in April 1981 but was lost along with its entire seven-astronaut crew in a 2003 re-entry accident. ![]() It still sits there today, but the shuttle will soon be heading to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.įive space-ready orbiters joined the shuttle fleet after Enterprise: Columbia in 1979, Challenger in 1982, Discovery in 1983, Atlantis in 1985 and Endeavour in 1991. In 1985, NASA handed Enterprise over to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum near Washington, D.C. ![]() The orbiter also journeyed to New Orleans for the 1984 World's Fair. and SLC-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.," Pearlman told in an email.Įnterprise also traveled the world as a showpiece, making stops in Canada, France, Italy, Germany and England in 1983. Then, from 1978 to 1985, Enterprise was ferried to various NASA centers, where it served as a sort of practice tool for engineers working on flight-ready space shuttles.Įnterprise "was the 'fit-check' vehicle for the space shuttle on two launch pads - Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. These trials proved out the shuttle's design, demonstrating its airworthiness and landing abilities. Over the next nine months, NASA engineers put Enterprise through a series of ground and flight tests. 31, 1977, NASA transported Enterprise 36 miles (58 kilometers) overland to the space agency's Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base. ![]() The tests were conducted to verify aerodynamics and handling characteristics in preparation for orbital flights with the Space Shuttle Columbia, which began in April 1981. The space shuttle prototype Enterprise flies free after being released from NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft over Rogers Dry Lakebed during the second of five free flights carried out at the Dryden Flight Research Center, in Edwards, Calif., as part of the shuttle program's Approach and Landing Tests (ALT).
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