Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39-B Construction Photos

Page 61


Open House With Kai: Columbia (Original Scan)

I've decided to expand the scope of this little project a bit, and let people see a few "slice of life" images, too.

I hope it's not a waste of time and some of it is of some small use or interest to somebody out there in Internetland.

This page shows a "day in the life" view of what it's like for a kid growing up in the shadow of the launch pads, with a father who works out on the Cape.

Open House at KSC. Columbia. Which had been rolled into the VAB, and you're seeing it here, inside the VAB, instead of inside the Orbiter Processing Facility which is where the Space Shuttles were serviced for flight.

And of course Columbia is no more, and the sadness will always linger in my heart.

But my son. My son Kai will always be able to dispel any sadness, no matter how great, and I count myself among the most very fortunate people in the world to have someone like him, close by me in my life.

The whole time he was growing up, Kai always said that he wished he could have been around to see things like Alan Shepard going up for the first time, and the launches of the Saturn V's, with his own eyes like I did.

So now, his children will be able to repay him the favor by telling him that they wish they could have been around to see the Space Shuttles fly, and to walk awestruck, literally beneath their wings, and see it all with their own eyes as he did.

One of these days, somebody is going to be pestering their parents, wishing they could have been around to see the Earth with their own eyes.

The day must come.


Open House at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Kai MacLaren inside the Vertical Assembly Building with the Space Shuttle Columbia.


Top Left: (Reduced)

Inside the Vertical Assembly Building, at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, you are viewing the right side of Space Shuttle Columbia’s fuselage, the forward end of the payload bay door on that side, and some of the wing strake, all of which, just behind the crew cabin.
Columbia. Alas.


Top Right: (Reduced)

Kai MacLaren knows exactly where he is, exactly what's there behind and above him inside the VAB at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and understands perfectly the marvel of good fortune which The Fates decreed should be allotted to him this day. He also knows there's nothing you can really do in a situation like this, when your father requests you stop, stand still for a bit, and face the camera with such a marvel in progress, all around you. And so he makes no foolish effort to "cut a pose" or weld a false look upon his face, and instead, simply abides the request in good humor, knowing the pause will be a short one, and additional marvels will very soon continue swimming into his ken, one after the other after the other after... And it is good.
Kai MacLaren knows exactly where he is, exactly what's there behind and above him, and understands perfectly the marvel of good fortune which The Fates decreed should be alloted to him this day. He also knows there's nothing you can really do in a situation like this, when your father requests you stop, stand still for a bit, and face the camera with such a marvel in progress, all around you.

And so he makes no foolish effort to "cut a pose" or weld a false look upon his face, and instead, simply abides the request in good humor, knowing the pause will be a short one, and additional marvels will very soon continue swimming into his ken, one after the other after the other after...

It is good.


Bottom Left: (Reduced)

In front and beneath the Nose Cap of the Space Shuttle Columbia, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Below, the open doors for the nose landing gear reveal some of the hardware associated with that nose gear, including the locking mechanisms. Columbia is not supported by its landing gear, but instead is supported by lifting stanchions (which are visible in the other pictures on this page), which allows servicing of the gear, and much else, without need for further arrangements to enable such servicing by taking the system(s) in question out of any load-bearing configuration.
Columbia. Nose cap, and nose landing gear.


Bottom Right: (Reduced)

From crew cabin windows in front, to vertical stabilizer in back, the entire right side of Space Shuttle Columbia is visible in this image, taken inside the VAB at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Note the absence of the right OMS Pod, which was no doubt being serviced elsewhere inside the facility at this time. Above the orbiter, you can see a fabric shroud in place which is there to prevent debris that might drift down from above (at this time, in the mid 1980’s, the VAB was suffering from small bits of concrete that were spalling off from the underside of the roof, and falling onto the interior platforming or sometimes the full 525 feet all the way to the floor in the transfer aisles and high bays), from entering areas where it could become disruptive to critical systems. Behind the orbiter, some of the rigid steel structure of the VAB is visible, along with various items of equipment which it is supporting.
Columbia's right side, from stem to stern. Note the absence of the OMS Pod, in the area below and left of the vertical stabilizer. And surrounding it all, exceedingly-strong steel structure, lighter aluminum scaffolding, and no end of exotic and highly-specialized equipment. And above the orbiter, the fabric shroud which is there to protect it from any chance of light debris coming down from above somewhere, and potentially impacting or entering and disrupting critical components and systems.


MacLaren's Images & Stories
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