Orbiter Processing Facility
An Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) is one of three hangars where U.S. space shuttle orbiters undergo maintenance between flights. All three such facilities, OPF-1, OPF-2 and OPF-3, are located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at Launch Complex 39.
They are located west of the Vehicle Assembly Building, where the orbiter is mated with its External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters before transport to the launch pad. OPF-1 and OPF-2 are connected with a low bay between them, while OPF-3 is across the street.
OPF-3 was previously called the Orbiter Maintenance & Refurbishment Facility (OMRF), but was upgraded to a fully functioning OPF.
Processing flow
When a shuttle mission is completed, the orbiter is towed from the Shuttle Landing Facility to its assigned OPF. Its previous mission payloads are removed and the vehicle is fully inspected, tested, and refurbished, including re-tiling areas of the Thermal Protection System where necessary. Then, parts of the payload for its next mission are installed and checked out.
Orbiter assignments
OPF-1 is assigned to Atlantis, OPF-2 to Endeavour and OPF-3 to Discovery.
External links
28°35′09″N 80°39′18″W / 28.585803°N 80.654991°W
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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