2 February 2003.
These satellite photos appear to show the Shuttle and some other launch pads
and support areas have high-security perimeter fencing which usually indicates
classified military and intelligence operations (locations annotated below).This
type of high-security fencing -- doubled, running in straight segments (probably
with motion sensors in the strands and in the ground between fences), guard
roads adjoining, with limited access points -- can be seen, for example,
at nuclear weapons storage
areas (NWSAs) and the President's
helicopter station.
Classified payloads are loaded in the satellite as assembled, at the Vehicle
Assembly Building or at the launching pads. US astronauts have top secret
code word clearance; their foreign colleagues have their own overt and covert
classified missions. The foreign guests are high-security compartmented and
surveilled by the host, and vice versa, not only during the mission.
1 February 2003
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/shuttle/countdown/sts107/landing.htm
February 1, 2003: Update for 11:22 a.m. EST: NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe
will hold a press briefing from Kennedy Space Center at 1 p.m. EST. It will
be broadcast on
NASA TV.
A Space Shuttle contingency has been declared in Mission Control, Houston,
as a result of the loss of communication with the Space Shuttle Columbia
at approximately 9 a.m. EST Saturday as it descended toward a landing at
the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. It was scheduled to touchdown at 9:16 a.m.
EST.
Communication and tracking of the shuttle was lost at 9 a.m. EST at an altitude
of about 203,000 feet in the area above north central Texas. The shuttle
was traveling approximately 12,500 miles per hour (Mach 18). No communication
and tracking information were received in Mission Control after that time.
Search and rescue teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth and in portions of East
Texas have been alerted. Any debris that is located in the area that may
be related to the Space Shuttle contingency should be avoided and may be
hazardous as a result of toxic propellants used aboard the shuttle. The location
of any possible debris should immediately be reported to local authorities.
More information will be provided when available.
Space Shuttle Orbiter
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/orbiters.htm#col
Columbia
Columbia (OV-102), the first of NASA's orbiter fleet, was delivered to Kennedy
Space Center in March 1979. Columbia initiated the Space Shuttle flight program
when it lifted off Pad A in the Launch Complex 39 area at KSC on April 12,
1981. It proved the operational concept of a winged, reusable spaceship by
successfully completing the Orbital Flight Test Program - missions STS-1
through 4.
Other, more recent achievements for Columbia include the recovery of the
Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) satellite from orbit during mission
STS-32 in January 1990 and the STS-40 Spacelab Life Sciences mission in June
1991 - the first manned Spacelab mission totally dedicated to human medical
research.
Columbia is named after a small sailing vessel that operated out of Boston
in 1792 and explored the mouth of the Columbia River. One of the first ships
of the U.S. Navy to circumnavigate the globe was named Columbia. The command
module for the Apollo 11 lunar mission was also named Columbia.
STS-107 Mission statement:
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/summaries/pdf/sts107memo.pdf
STS-107 Launch:
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/index.html
Fixed Service Structure
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/padsfss2.htm
The FSS is each pad's most prominent feature, standing 347 feet from ground
level to the tip of the lightning mast. The lightning mast itself, 80 feet
tall and made of fiberglass, supports a one-inch stainless steel cable which
starts from an anchor 1,100 feet south of the FSS, angles up and over the
mast, and then extends back down to a second anchor the same distance to
the north. Below the lightning mast is a hammerhead crane used for pad hoisting
operations.
The FSS is equipped with three swing arms which provide services or access
to a Shuttle on the pad. They are retracted when not in use. There are 12
floors on the FSS, positioned at 20-foot intervals. The first is located
27 feet above the pad surface. The FSS also provides an Emergency Egress
System for astronauts.
12 May 2002
Source: MapQuest.
The Kennedy Space Center website:
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/
Eyeballing
the
Kennedy
Space
Center
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Launch Pad 39A with Fixed Service Structure at center. |
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Shuttle Launch Pad 39A, with high-security perimeter fencing. |
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Shuttle Launch Pad 39B, with high-security perimeter fencing |
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Vehicle Assembly Building |
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Center launch pad may be a classified operation, based on type of perimeter
fencing.. |
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Center launch pad may be a classified operation, based on type of perimeter
fencing.. |
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Central facility may be a classified operation, based on type of perimeter
fencing.. |
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Central facility may be a classified operation, based on type of perimeter
fencing.. |
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