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List of Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flights

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Behold Eck (talk | contribs) at 05:50, 23 March 2016 (changed April 10, 1978 (after MGVTests at MSFC, Enterprise taken to KSC) to April 10, 1979 ~~~~). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ferry flights generally originate at the Edwards Air Force Base in California or on rare occasions White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico following missions which land there, especially in the early days of the Space Shuttle program or when weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center prevents ending missions there. Flights generally end at the SLF. A number of flights have begun at the Dryden Flight Research Center following delivery of the orbiter from Rockwell International to NASA from the nearby facilities in Palmdale, California.[1][2]

Ferry Flights

Main article: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

Other transportation methods

Overland

Space shuttle orbiters were constructed in Palmdale, California and transported overland to the Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), a distance of 36 miles. The shuttle carrier aircraft was not used for this initial leg of the journey but was used to transport the orbiters for launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Additionally the orbiters are routinely transported from the Shuttle Landing Facility to the Orbiter Processing Facility after landing at the Kennedy Space Center either after missions or after removal from the SCA.[1]

  • Enterprise January 31, 1977 (Palmdale to DFRC) for ferry flight to KSC
  • Columbia March 8, 1979 (Palmdale to DFRC) for ferry flight to KSC
  • Enterprise October 30, 1979 (DFRC to Palmdale) for ferry flight to KSC
  • Challenger July 1, 1982 (Palmdale to DFRC) for ferry flight to KSC
  • Discovery November 5, 1983 (Palmdale to DFRC) for ferry flight to KSC
  • Columbia January 30, 1984 (DFRC to Palmdale) for STS-17 modifications
  • Enterprise April 2, 1984 (Brookley Air Force Base, Mobile Alabama to U.S. Coast Guard Station, Mobile Alabama), for transfer to a barge for transport to New Orleans for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition
  • Atlantis April 9, 1985 (Palmdale to DFRC) for ferry flight to KSC
  • Columbia July 11, 1985 (Palmdale to DFRC) for ferry flight to KSC, following modifications

Barge

[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "STS Chronology". NASA.
  2. ^ Mark, Hans (1987). The space station : a personal journey. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 156. ISBN 0822307278.
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