#orbiters — Public Fediverse posts

After #NASA retired the #Space #Shuttle in 2011, they planned to send the #Orbiters to museums. To get them ready, NASA removed the #SSME #rocket #engines and replaced them with replicas and decontaminated the parts of the Orbiter that held toxic fuel for in-space maneuvering, then be put on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

In this #photograph, #Atlantis (closer on the left) and #Endeavour (on the right) have been brought nose-to-nose for #photographers and #journalists to tell the story of the Shuttle’s #retirement.

Get a print of this image, or other merchandise, at https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/atlantis-and-endeavour-meet-2-heron-and-fox.html

#SpaceShuttle, #SpaceShuttleOrbiter, #SpaceShuttleAtlantis, #SpaceShuttleEndeavour, #KennedySpaceCenter, #KSC, #spacecraft, #Photography

After #NASA ended the #SpaceShuttle Program, the three #Orbiters, #Discovery, Endeavour, and #Atlantis, were all lent out to #museums for public viewing. This required the #spacecraft to be decontaminated from toxic propellants, and have their #SSME / RS-27D #rocket #engines removed for use in the #SpaceLaunchSystem and replaced by replicas.
This retrofitting required some awkward Orbiter dancing as #KSC only had 3 Orbiter Processing Facilities, and had already rented one out. So one Orbiter remained in the #VAB while another was processed.
In this #photograph, Discovery and Atlantis are changing places and meet in the middle.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/atlantis-and-discovery-meet-heron-and-fox.html