composerman Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) I had a great opportunity to tour the "Rubber Room" and emergency bunker underneath Pad 39A on Wednesday. I also was able to get into the flame trench and underneath the MLP at the pad surface. It has been there since Atlantis left in July of 2011. I want to give a special thanks to the PAO staff at the KSC NASA News Center! Below is the link to all of my photos and I hope they can be of use. 39A Reference Photos Edited January 18, 2013 by composerman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Troy, Thanks for posting these great pictures. You mentioned the MLP has been there since Atlantis launched. Your pictures show MLP 2 on the pad however Atlantis launched from MLP 3. Did they maybe move MLP 2 onto the pad after Atlantis launched? Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
composerman Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 I forgot that they did a swap and I'm glad you liked the photos. The one looking up at the fixed structure with the buzzards overhead was sort of fitting. It was like they were circling over a dead pad. I am sure 39A will be used again, but the future is far from certain. One of our guides worked at the Cape during Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle. He talked about being in the firing room during Apollo 10. He will be 89 years old next month and is the oldest volunteer at the KSC PAO office. His stories are amazing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Hi Troy, thanks for posting these smashing 39A pictures, really impressive. You're really envy that you were so close to the Pad and could take such great pictures, especially with this great resolution. You won't believe it, but your photos come just at the right time, while I'm scratch-building the Blast shields on Side 1 of MLP-2. And thanks to your photos I now also know, how the Blast shields look from the bottom. From this position, there are almost no good pictures to find, which show the details. Now I also know how the Pipe hangars for the LH2-Transfer line under the Blast shields are built and can recreate them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
composerman Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 Spaceman, I'm glad that my shots were able to help you. As a rule, they don't usually allow non-workers underneath the MLP, but somehow it worked out. My associate and I were out shooting circular fisheye images for use in full dome planetarium productions and I tried to shoot as many reference shots that I could think of. By the way, your build is amazing! I can't wait to see it finished with a shuttle on it. Troy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Troy, thanks for your kind words, I'll send you a PM with special questions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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