Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39

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"Launch Complex 39" redirects here. For the Proton launch complex at Baikonur, see Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 200.
Launch Complex 39
VAB Aerial - GPN-2000-000869.jpg
An aerial view of Launch Complex 39
Launch site Kennedy Space Center
Location 28°36′30.23″N 80°36′15.64″W / 28.6083972°N 80.6043444°W / 28.6083972; -80.6043444
Short name LC-39
Operator United States NASA
Total launches 151 (13 Saturn V, 4 Saturn 1B, 135 Shuttle, 1 Ares 1-X)
Launch pad(s) 2
Minimum / maximum
orbital inclination		 28°–62°
LC-39A launch history
Status Inactive
Launches 92 (12 Saturn V, 80 Shuttle)
First launch November 9, 1967
Saturn V / Apollo 4
Last launch July 8, 2011
Space Shuttle Atlantis / STS-135
Associated rockets Saturn V
Saturn INT-21
Space Shuttle
LC-39B launch history
Status Inactive
Launches 59 (1 Saturn V, 4 Saturn 1B, 53 Shuttle, 1 Ares I-X)
First launch May 18, 1969
Saturn V / Apollo 10
Last launch October 28, 2009
Ares I-X
Associated rockets Saturn V
Saturn IB
Space Shuttle
Ares I-X
Launch Complex 39
Location: John F. Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, Florida
Area: 7,000 acres (2,800 ha)
Built: 1967
Governing body: Federal
MPS: John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
NRHP Reference#: 73000568[1]
Added to NRHP: May 24, 1973
Launch Complex 39--Pad A
Location: John F. Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, Florida
Area: 160 acres (65 ha)
Built: 1965
Governing body: Federal
MPS: John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
NRHP Reference#: 99001638[1]
Added to NRHP: January 21, 2000
Launch Complex 39--Pad B
Location: John F. Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, Florida
Area: 160 acres (65 ha)
Built: 1966
Governing body: Federal
MPS: John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
NRHP Reference#: 99001639[1]
Added to NRHP: January 21, 2000

Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA began modifying LC-39 in 2007 to accommodate Project Constellation.[2][3] NASA is currently soliciting proposals for commercial use of Launch Pad 39-A.[4]

Launches from LC-39 are supervised from the Launch Control Center, located 3 miles (4.8 km) from the launch pads. LC-39 is one of several launch sites that share the Eastern Test Range.

Launch Complex 39 is composed of the two launch pads, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the Crawlerway (the route used by crawler-transporters to carry Mobile Launcher Platforms between the VAB and the pads), the Orbiter Processing Facility buildings, the Launch Control Center (which contains the firing rooms), a news facility (famous for the iconic countdown clock seen in television coverage and photos), and various logistical and operational support buildings.[5]

Contents

History [edit]

Early years [edit]

The first development on this site was in 1890 when a few wealthy graduates of Harvard University purchased the 18,000 acres (73 km2) property for one dollar per acre. Very nearly on the site of 39A[6] they constructed a three-story mahogany clubhouse with twenty rooms for members and guests. The club featured a large dining room, wine cellar, trophy room and plenty of storage for arms and ammunition. Atop the lodge, there was a spectacular view of both ocean and wildlife that flocked to the surrounding marsh. During the 1920s, P. E. Studebaker, son of the automobile magnate, built a small casino at De Soto Beach eight miles (13 km) north of the Canaveral lighthouse to lure buyers to the site where plans were being developed for an elaborate resort city, complete with water, sewer, sidewalks, street lights, and landscaping. Also, the Playa Linda Development Corporation sought buyers to their 'proposed' development of 8,000 lots of 0.25 acres (1,000 m2) advertised as the "greatest beach development north of Miami."[7] Prior to the construction of the complex, State Road A1A ran east of the complex. Along this rural ocean road was United States Coast Guard Station Chester Shoals built in 1885.

In 1948, the Navy transferred the former Banana River Naval Air Station located south of the Cape Canaveral, to the Air Force for use in testing captured German V-2 rockets.[8] The site's location on the East Florida coast was ideal for this purpose in that launches would be over the ocean, away from populated areas. This site became the Joint Long Range Proving Ground in 1949, and was renamed Patrick Air Force Base in 1950. The Air Force annexed part of Cape Canaveral to the North in 1951, forming the Air Force Missile Test Center, the future Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). Missile and rocketry testing and development would take place here through the 1950s.[9]

NASA arrives [edit]

NASA was founded in 1958, and the early NASA missions, including the Mercury and Gemini programs, were launched from pads on CCAFS.[10]

In 1961, President Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. The announcement of the lunar program led to an expansion of operations from the Cape to the adjacent Merritt Island.[11] NASA began acquisition of land in 1962, taking title to 131 square miles (340 km2) by outright purchase and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 square miles (230 km2). In July 1962, the site was named the Launch Operations Center. At the time, the highest numbered launch pad on CCAFS was Launch Complex 37; when the lunar launch complex was designed, it was designated as Launch Complex 39.

Initial design [edit]

Launch Complex Plan - 1963
Warning lamps showing the planned 3 pads including the unbuilt Pad C

The initial design of the launch complex contained five pads that were evenly spaced 8,700 feet (2,700 m) apart to avoid damage in the event of a pad explosion. Three were scheduled for construction (A-C, to the southeast) and two reserved for future use (D and E, west and north). The numbering of the pads at the time was from north to south, with the northernmost being LC-39A, and the southern being LC-39C. LC-39A was never built, and LC-39C became LC-39A in 1963. With today's numbering, LC-39C would be north of LC-39B. LC-39D would have been due west of LC-39C. LC-39E would have been due north of the mid-distance between LC-39C and LC-39D, with LC-39E forming the top of a triangle, and equidistant from LC-39C and LC-39D. The crawler way was built with the additional pads in mind. This is the reason the crawler way turns as it heads to Pad B; continuing straight from that turn would have led to the additional pads.[12] The accompanying map also shows the unbuilt Nuclear Assembly Building (NAB).

Early launches [edit]

The pads were first used for launches of the Saturn V rocket for the Project Apollo moon missions, and later for Saturn 1B rockets for the Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz programs. The original structure of the pads was remodeled for the needs of the Space Shuttle, starting with LC-39A after the last Saturn V launch, which carried Skylab in 1973, and in 1977 for LC-39B after the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. During the Apollo era these were just launchpads - the umbilical/service towers were attached to the launch platform—the only modification made was the so-called "milkstool" which allowed the Saturn IB rocket (for all manned Skylab missions, the unlaunched Skylab Rescue, and ASTP) to use the Saturn V launch tower. For the Shuttle, the pad had a fixed tower (left over from the Apollo-Saturn era) and a rotating service platform, used to protect the Shuttle Orbiter and to install vertically handled payloads into the payload bay.[2][13] Current NASA plans for Project Constellation calls for the reverting of both pads to a state similar to that of the Apollo Program, but with the installation of lightning masts to deflect lightning strikes away from the Ares I and Ares V rockets.

The first use of LC-39 came in 1967 with the first Saturn V launch, carrying the unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft. The second unmanned launch, Apollo 6, also used LC-39A. With the exception of Apollo 10, which used LC-39B (due to the "all-up" testing resulting in a 2-month turnaround period), all manned Apollo-Saturn V launches, commencing with Apollo 8, used LC39A. After the launch of Skylab in 1973, using the Saturn INT-21 rocket (a two-stage variation of the Saturn V rocket originally intended for the Apollo Applications Program), LC-39A was reconfigured for the Space Shuttle and was used for the first Shuttle launch (STS-1), using the Columbia in 1981.[14] After Apollo 10, LC-39B was kept as a backup launch facility in the case of the destruction of LC-39A, but saw service for all three Skylab missions, the ASTP flight, as well as un-launched Skylab Rescue flight. After ASTP, LC-39B underwent the same reconfiguration as LC-39A, but due to necessary modifications (mainly to allow the facility to service a modified Centaur-G upper stage), along with budgetary restraints, it was not ready until 1986, and the first Shuttle launch to use it was the ill-fated STS-51-L flight – the Challenger disaster.

During the launch of Discovery on STS-124 on May 31, 2008, the pad at LC-39A suffered extensive damage, in particular to the concrete trench used to deflect the SRB's flames.[15] The subsequent mishap investigation found that the damage was the result of carbonation of epoxy and corrosion of steel anchors which held the refractory bricks in the trench in place. These had been exacerbated by the fact that hydrochloric acid is an exhaust by-product of the solid rocket boosters.[16]

  • The first flight of the Saturn V (on the unmanned Apollo 4 flight) rising from LC-39A

  • LC-39B with lightning masts installed, LC39A with STS-128

  • LC-39B undergoing construction for Ares

Space shuttle usage [edit]

Launch of the final Saturn IB rocket from LC-39B on July 15, 1975 carrying the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Command Module into orbit
Enterprise on Pad 39A during the fit check tests in 1979
Columbia in launch configuration at Pad 39A in preparation for STS-1

Integration of launch vehicle stack [edit]

The thrust to allow the Space Shuttle to achieve orbit was provided by a combination of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs). The SRBs used solid propellant, hence their name. The SSMEs used a combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) from the External Tank (ET), as the orbiter did not have internal fuel tanks for the SSMEs (as they would be have had to be as large as the External Tank). Months before launch, the three main components of the "stack" were brought together in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The components were placed on a Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP). The SRBs arrived in segments via rail car from their manufacturing facility in Utah, the External Tank arrived from its manufacturing facility in Louisiana by barge, and the orbiter waited in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). The SRBs were first stacked, and then the External Tank was mounted between them. Then, using a massive crane, the orbiter was lowered and connected to the External Tank.

Transportation to the pad [edit]

When the stack integration was completed, it was moved by the Crawler-Transporter the 3–4 miles (5-6 kilometers) to the pad over eight hours. At the pad, the MLP was lowered onto several pedestals, and the Crawler-Transporter moved off the pad to a staging area a safe distance away.

Payload to be installed at the launch pad was independently transported in a payload transportation canister then installed vertically at the Payload Changeout Room. Otherwise, payloads would have already been pre-installed at the Orbiter Processing Facility and transported within the orbiter's cargo bay.

Launch towers [edit]

Each pad contained a two-piece access tower system, the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The FSS permitted access to the Shuttle via a retractable arm and a "beanie cap" to capture vented LOX from the External Tank. The RSS contained the Payload Changeout Room, which offered "clean" access to the orbiter's payload bay, protection from the elements, and protection in winds up to 60 knots (110 km/h). Also at each pad were large cryogenic tanks that stored the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) for the SSMEs. The highly explosive nature of these chemicals required numerous safety measures at the Launch Complex. NASA calculated the minimum safe distance for a fully fueled Space Shuttle stack was three miles (5 km) for personnel, and 8,700 feet (2,700 m) between pads. Before tanking operations began and during launch, non-essential personnel were excluded from the danger area. The Launch Control Center and Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) were almost exactly three miles (5 km) away.

Swing arms [edit]

The doors to the White Room, which provided entry to the space shuttle crew compartment, are seen here at the end of the access arm walkway.
Apollo era walkway and white room, on display at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Swing arms were retractable mechanical systems that extended from the launch tower to the Space Shuttle. They provided access to the vehicle for people, wiring and plumbing while the vehicle was on the launch pad. They retracted by swinging away before launch.[17]

People (technicians, engineers, and astronauts) used the Orbiter Access Arm to access the crew module. At the end of the arm, the white room provided an environmentally controlled and protected area for astronauts and their equipment to enter the orbiter.

The Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm positioned a hood, often called the "Beanie Cap," over the top of the External Tank (ET) nose cone during fueling. Heated gaseous nitrogen was used there to remove the extremely cold gaseous oxygen that normally vented out of the External Tank. This prevented the formation of ice that could fall and damage the shuttle.

The Hydrogen Vent Line Access Arm mated the External Tank (ET) Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate (GUCP) to the launch pad hydrogen vent line. The GUCP provided support for plumbing and cables, called umbilicals, that transferred fluids, gases, and electrical signals between two pieces of equipment. While the ET was being fueled, hazardous gas was vented from an internal hydrogen tank through the GUCP, out a vent line to a flare stack where it was burned off at a safe distance. Sensors at the GUCP measured gas level. The GUPC was redesigned after leaks created scrubs of STS-127 and were also detected during attempts to launch STS-119 and STS-133.[18] The GUCP released from the ET at launch and fell away with a curtain of water sprayed across it for protection from flames.

Pad Terminal Connection Room [edit]

LC39A PTCR 2nd floor hallway

Connections between the Launch Control Center, mobile launcher platform and shuttle stack are made in the Pad Terminal Connection Room (PTCR). The facility was a 2-story series of rooms beneath the launch pad, constructed of reinforced concrete located on the west side of the flame trench and was protected by up to 20 feet (6.1 m) of fill dirt.[19][20]


Sound suppression water system [edit]

SSWS pipes beneath LC39A

An elevated water tank near each pad provided sound buffering protection for the launching spacecraft. Part of the Sound Suppression Water System (SSWS), the 290-foot (88 m) water towers stored 300,000 gallons (1.1 Megalitres) of water, which was released just before engine ignition.[21] The water discharged onto the launch platform during lift-off muffled the intense sound waves produced by the Shuttle engines. Due to heating of the water, a large quantity of steam was produced during launch.

Emergency pad evacuation [edit]

M113 armored personnel carriers parked near LC-39

In an emergency, the launch complex used a slidewire escape basket system for quick evacuation. Assisted by members of the closeout team, the crew would leave the orbiter and ride an emergency basket to the ground at speeds reaching up to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h).[22] From there, the crew took shelter in a bunker. A modified M113 Armored Personnel Carrier could carry injured astronauts away from the complex to safety.[23]

Future use [edit]

The aerial view of both launch pads at the complex, 39A (foreground) and 39B

With the retirement of the Shuttle in 2011,[24] the future of LC-39 is undetermined following cancellation of Project Constellation in 2010.

LC-39B [edit]

Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39.tiff

NASA deactivated LC-39B on January 1, 2007, thus making the nighttime launch of STS-116, which occurred on December 9, 2006, its last shuttle mission.

Between the STS-116 launch and the STS-125 mission, when Endeavour was placed on LC-39B in the event NASA needed to launch the STS-400 rescue mission, contractors installed three new 600 ft.-tall lightning mast towers similar to those used on the Atlas V and Delta IV launch pads at nearby Cape Canaveral. At the same time, they removed the existing single lightning mast and crane assembly. (The crane assembly dated back to the Apollo program.) With the completion of STS-125, contractors converted LC-39B for the successful test flight of Ares I-X on October 28, 2009.

Since the Ares I-X flight, NASA proceeded with plans to strip LC-39B of its Flight Service Structure (FSS), returning the location to an Apollo-like "clean pad" design for the first time since 1977. This approach will make the pad available to multiple types of vehicles which arrive at the pad with service structures on the mobile launcher platform as opposed to custom structures on the pad.[25] The LH2, LOX, and water tanks (used for the sound suppression system) are the only structures left from the Shuttle era.[26][27]

As of February 2011, NASA was offering the pad and facilities to private companies to fly missions for the commercial space market.[28]

As of June 2012, repairs and modifications to selected facility systems at Launch Complex (LC) 39B for Space Launch System (SLS) processing and launch operations are finishing the first phase of a five-phase project. The second phase of this project is currently budgeted at $89.2 million ($6.1 million in FY 2012, $28.5 million in FY 2013, $9.4 million in FY 2014 and $45.2 million in the outyears).[29]

  • For the last time in the Shuttle program, Space Shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour are placed at LC39A and LC39B in preparation for the STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

  • Ares I-X launches from LC-39B, 15:30 UTC, October 28, 2009.

  • Removal of the top floor of the fixed service structure on LC39B in March 2011

LC-39A [edit]

Launch complex 39A

Just like the first 24 shuttle flights, LC-39A was supporting the remaining manifested shuttle flights, starting with STS-117 until the retirement of the shuttle fleet. In January 2013 NASA announced that Pad A would be abandoned.[30] The pad remains as it was when Atlantis launched on the final shuttle mission on July 8, 2011, complete with a mobile launcher platform. NASA does not intend to abandon potential commercial launch providers usage of LC-39A.[31] In May 2013, NASA announced that they would accept proposals for commercial use of Launch Pad 39-A.[4]

See also [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39


References [edit]

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)
  1. ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. 
  2. ^ a b NASA (1993). "Launch Complex 39-A & 39-B". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
  3. ^ NASA (2000). "Launch Complex 39". NASA. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
  4. ^ a b NASA requests proposals for commercial use of Pad 39A, NewSpace Watch, 20 May 2013, accessed 21 May 2013.
  5. ^ "KSC Facilities". NASA. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
  6. ^ "NGS DATASHEET FOR CLUBHOUSE SOUTHWEST GABLE". National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
  7. ^ Eriksen, Brevard County, Florida: A Short History to 1955
  8. ^ "EVOLUTION OF THE 45TH SPACE WING". US Air Force. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
  9. ^ "THE HISTORY OF CAPE CANAVERAL CHAPTER 2: THE MISSILE RANGE TAKES SHAPE (1949-1958)". Spaceline.org. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
  10. ^ "Cape Canaveral LC5". Astronautix.com. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
  11. ^ "THE HISTORY OF CAPE CANAVERAL CHAPTER 3 NASA ARRIVES (1959-PRESENT)". Spaceline.org. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ NASA (2006). "Feature: Launch Complex 39". NASA. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
  14. ^ NASA (2006). "Shuttle-Era Pad Modifications". NASA. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
  15. ^ SPACE.com -- NASA Eyes Launch Pad Damage for Next Shuttle Flight
  16. ^ Lilley, Steve K. (August 2010). "Hit the Bricks". System Failure Case Studies (NASA) 4 (8): 1–4. Retrieved July 20, 2011. 
  17. ^ "Swing Arm Engineer". NASA. 
  18. ^ "GUCP troubleshooting continues as MMT push for launch on June 17". NASA Spaceflight. 
  19. ^ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/pad-term-connect-room.html
  20. ^ Young, John; Robert Crippen. Get this book in print▼ My library My History eBookstore Wings in Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle 1971-2010 (Hardcover): Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle 1971-2010. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-16-086847-4. 
  21. ^ "Sound Suppression System". Retrieved 2007-10-22. 
  22. ^ "SPACE.com – NASA Conducts Shuttle Astronaut Rescue Drill". Retrieved 2007-10-22. 
  23. ^ "NASA Field Journal by Greg Lohning". Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  24. ^ NASA: Lost in Space, Business Week, 2010-10-28, accessed 2010-10-31.
  25. ^ "Historic space shuttle pad soon to be scrap". USA Today. 23 March 2011. 
  26. ^ NASA (2006). "Sound Suppression System". NASA. Retrieved September 30, 2007. 
  27. ^ "STS-127 Rollaround starts". Space Flight Now. 
  28. ^ Dean, James (2011-02-06 quote=As the shuttle program nears retirement, KSC officials are evaluating whether other facilities that supported three decades of shuttle flights will transition to serve new vehicles or be discarded. The center is offering use of its launch pads, runway, Vehicle Assembly Building high bays, hangars and firing rooms to private companies expected to play a bigger role in NASA missions and a growing commercial space market.). "Up for grabs? Private companies eye KSC facilities". Florida Today. Retrieved 2011-02-06. 
  29. ^ http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/632670main_NASA_FY13_Budget_CECR-508.pdf NASA FY13 Budget
  30. ^ "NASA to abandon historic launch pad" January 16, 2013, WESH-TV
  31. ^ "NASA not abandoning LC-39A" January 17, 2013

External links [edit]

Coordinates: 28°36′30″N 80°36′16″W / 28.608397°N 80.604345°W / 28.608397; -80.604345
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