Mate-Demate Device
The Mate-Demate Device was a specialized gantry crane designed to lift a Space Shuttle orbiter onto and off the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). Two Mate-Demate Devices were built, one at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, the other at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A third Orbiter Lifting Fixture was to serve a similar function at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, the proposed West Coast launch location for the Shuttle. It was later moved to Palmdale to support the plant where the Shuttle was built and refurbished. A portable sling was also built to support mate-demate operations away from the primary locations.
Armstrong Flight Research Center
The first Mate-Demate Device was located at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California.[1] Construction of the MDD was completed in late 1976.[1] It was first used during operations with the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise during the five Approach and Landing Tests in 1977.[1]
During the Shuttle program, the Shuttle Landing Facility airport at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was the primary landing site for orbiters. However, the longer runways at Edwards were used for 11 of the first 12 missions and would be used for a total of 54 of the 135 shuttle missions. This MDD would be used to hoist an orbiter onto a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the flight back to Florida.[1] The MDD was dismantled in 2014 following the retirement of the Space Shuttle.[2]
Kennedy Space Center
The second Mate-Demate Device was located at the Shuttle Landing Facility airport at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The MDD was located just off the southern end of the runway. Its primary use was unloading the orbiter after its cross-country flight from Edwards. However, it was also used to load the orbiter onto an SCA to be taken to Palmdale for Orbiter Maintenance Down Periods.
Orbiter Lifting Fixture
Orbiter Lifting Fixture was a scaled-down version of the MDD planned for use exclusively at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was first tested by Space Shuttle Discovery during its initial delivery flight in November 1983 and was used to unload and load Space Shuttle Enterprise for pad fit checks at Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 6 in 1984 and 1985.[3] Shuttle flights from the West Coast were canceled following the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
The Orbiter Lifting Fixture was relocated to United States Air Force Plant 42 where the orbiters were built in Palmdale, California, before the delivery of the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1991. Previously, the orbiters were trucked to the MDD at the Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, about 36 miles (58 km) away, which took about 10 hours.[3] The Orbiter Lifting Fixture was demolished in 2008.[4]
Mobile sling
On the rare occasions when an orbiter needed to be loaded or unloaded at a location where a permanent lifting device was not available, NASA had a special sling that could be attached to the orbiter, allowing it to be lifted by cranes. Typically, a smaller crane supported the front end of the sling, while a larger crane supported the rear. To compensate for the absence of the stabilizing structure normally provided by the MDD, an arrangement of wire ropes, masts, and winches would be set up to provide stability for the suspended Orbiter/Sling combination.
The mobile sling was used multiple times early in the Shuttle program during the late 1970s and mid-1980s to transport Space Shuttle Enterprise for display at various locations around the world. It was also used to load Space Shuttle Columbia onto an SCA when it landed at White Sands in New Mexico at the end of STS-3 in 1982.[4]
The sling went unused between the mid-1980s and 2012, on standby to transport the shuttle in the case that it landed at one of its backup landing sites other than Edwards. The sling saw heavy use in 2012 to transport Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise to museums at the conclusion of the Shuttle program.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d "Shuttle Mate-Demate Device Fact Sheet". Armstrong Flight Research Center. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ Levine, Jay (28 August 2014). "An Era Ends, but Another Begins at NASA Armstrong". Armstrong Flight Research Center. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ a b Uri, John (16 October 2023). "40 Years Ago: Space Shuttle Discovery Makes its Public Debut". Johnson Space Center. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Orbiter Mate and Demate to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) at Display Sites" (PDF). NASA. 1 May 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ Siceloff, Steven (4 August 2011). "Teams Practice Lifting Shuttles at Airports". Kennedy Space Center. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
