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The biggest modifications to the MLP will be on the platform's base, where engineers will increase the size of a Template:Convert/round m2 (22 sq ft) exhaust duct to a rectangle stretching Template:Convert/round by Template:Convert/round m (60 by 30 ft) and strengthen the surrounding structure. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's "Moonport" and later modified for the Space Shuttle program. Starting 6.6 seconds before engine ignition, a Template:Convert/round-litre (300,000 US gal) water tank at the launch site began dumping water down a pipeline and into the exhaust vents of the MLP. Tests included the mating of the Saturn's stages in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the fit of the service platforms, the launcher-transporter operation, the propellant loading system, and the test connections to the mobile launcher and support equipment. Each MLP originally had a single exhaust vent for the Saturn V's engines. Discovery was the first of the three active Space Shuttles to be retired, completing its final mission on March 9, 2011; Endeavour did so on June 1. [24], Once delivered to the pad, the mobile launcher platform is connected to the larger sound suppression system by large pipes which deliver a deluge of water from an adjacent water tower. The project cost was $445 million. Typically used to launch NASA's crewed spaceflight missions since the late 1960s, the pad is currently being reconfigured for use by the agency's Space Launch System rocket, a Shuttle-derived launch vehicle which will be used in the Artemis program and subsequent Moon to Mars campaigns. The umbilical towers from Mobile Launchers 2 and 3 were removed. This was meant to enable simultaneous assembly of multiple launch vehicles as part of the Titan's Integrate-Transfer-Launch (ITL) concept, allowing a high flight rate from a small number of launch pads. javascript is enabled. NASA's three MLPs were originally constructed for the Apollo program to launch the Saturn V rockets in the 1960s and 1970s, and remained in service through the end of the shuttle program in 2011 with alterations. [2], In addition to removal of the umbilical towers, each Shuttle-era MLP was extensively reconfigured with the addition of two Tail Service Masts (TSM), one on either side of the main engine exhaust vent. Two 2,750 horsepower (2.05 MW) diesel engines power each crawler. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Ares I-X was successfully launched on October 28, 2009. Construction of the Mobile Launcher Platform-1 (MLP-1) (formerly called the Mobile Launcher-3 or ML-3) began in 1964 and was completed with the installation of the Launch Umbilical Tower hammerhead crane on 1 March 1965. The External Tank was then lowered between the two boosters and attached to them. The Space Shuttle assembly was held to the MLP at eight holddown points using large studs, four on the aft skirt of each Solid Rocket Booster. SA-500F was a dummy Saturn V used by NASA to test facilities at Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida throughout 1966. These permanent structures are now known as the Fixed Service Structures (FSS). [17] As of September 2020, the future of MLP-3 remains uncertain. Immediately before SRB ignition, frangible nuts attached to the top of these studs were detonated, releasing the Shuttle assembly from the platform. [5]. They were then used to transport Space Shuttles from 1981 to 2011. For Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz, MLP No. The total cost of the ML-1 is estimated to be $1 billion. The PSLV, GSLV, and GSLV Mark III rockets utilize an MLP called the Mobile Launch Pedestal. After that, the orbiter was lowered into position and attached to the External Tank. The platform was redesignated MLP-3. On June 2019, NASA awarded a contract for the design and construction of the Mobile Launcher-2 (ML-2) for SLS Block 1B. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39A, were first designed for the Saturn V launch vehicle, which at the time was the United States' most powerful rocket. Photo credit: NASA [12], Following the Space Shuttle retirement, NASA kept the MLP-2 for liquid-propellant rockets. Following the launch of Apollo 17, the ML-3 was the first of the Mobile Launchers to be converted for use by the Space Shuttle. The Constellation Program is a cancelled crewed spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. › View Larger Image, Image above: Morning breaks over Launch Pad 39A following the arrival of shuttle Atlantis and Mobile Launcher Platform-2 prior to the STS-132 mission. Titan III and Titan IV rockets launched from SLC-40 and SLC-41 utilized MLPs to decouple assembly of the launch vehicle from launch. The mobile launcher will have to be altered in order to support the heavier weight and additional thrust of the heavy lift rocket. The final shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, closing the 30-year Space Shuttle program. [citation needed]. [2] The suppression system reduced the acoustic sound level to approximately 142 dB. Following the launch of STS-119 in March 2009, it was transferred to the Constellation program. A launch pad is an above-ground facility from which a rocket-powered missile or space vehicle is vertically launched. It was subsequently used for the launch of Skylab on a Saturn V in 1973. Since the cancellation of the program in 2010, ML-1 was converted for the Space Launch System Block 1, with various phases of construction between 2013 and 2018. From 2019 to 2020, the OmegA launch tower was under construction on MLP-3. [citation needed], The MLP that was built to launch the Ares I rocket will be modified to support the Space Launch System. After the Apollo program, the launcher platforms were modified for the Space Shuttle (Space Transport System). Artemis 1 is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars. The Space Shuttle assembly was held to the MLP at eight holddown points using large studs, four on the aft skirt of each Solid Rocket Booster. The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources, and operate facilities on each other's property. [1]. [8] [9] However, the Constellation program was canceled and the MLP was left unused. The crawler-transporter then carried the combined platform and vehicle to the launch site, and deposited them there together. Following this, it was used for two crewed Apollo launches: Apollo 8 and Apollo 11. [19] Construction of the ML-2 began on July 2020, with the planned completion in 2023. [10]. The MLPs also featured a Template:Convert/round m (380 ft) Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT) with nine arms that permitted servicing of the vehicle on the launch pad, and swung away from it at launch. From 1967 to 2011, three platforms were used at the LC-39 to support NASA's launch vehicles. A service structure is a steel framework or tower that is built on a rocket launch pad to facilitate assembly and servicing. The base of the ML-1 is 25 feet (7.6 m) high, 158 feet (48 m) long, and 133 feet (41 m) wide. [23] The rockets are stacked on the Mobile Launch Pedestal in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB; not to be confused with the NASA building with the same name), and are then rolled-out towards the launch pad.

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