I watched that launch. I am always amazed when the
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Posted On: 02/06/2018 6:37:57 PM
I watched that launch. I am always amazed when the launches go smoothly.
Here is a little history of the NASA Agreement with SpaceX:
NASA, SpaceX Sign Property Agreement for Historic Launch Pad
2014
Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana announces that on April 14, 2014 NASA signed a property agreement with SpaceX for use and operation of Launch Complex 39A. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, left, and Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, look on. SpaceX will use Launch Complex 39A for rockets such as the Falcon Heavy, currently under development.
Credits: NASA/Dan Casper
apollo_11.jpg
On July 16, 1969, a huge, 363-foot tall Apollo/Saturn V thunders to life at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. The Apollo 11 mission was the first to land astronauts on the moon.
Credits: NASA
sts-1.jpg
The launch of the first space shuttle ushered in a new era in the utilization of space on April 12, 1981 when astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen lifted off at Launch Complex 39A.
An aerial view of Launch Complex 39A taken on Sept. 12, 2000, catches by the early morning sun where the space shuttle Discovery awaits launch on STS-92. In addition to the pad itself, the launch complex includes infrastructure such as the 300,000-gallon water tank tower, to the left of the pad that is part of the sound suppression system. Pipes from the tank can be seen coiling under the pad next to the opening of the flame trench. In the foreground is a retention pond, another is at right center. The ball-shaped structure on the far right is an 850,000-gallon storage tank for the cryogenic liquid oxygen, one of the propellants of the shuttle’s main engines. On the horizon is the Vehicle Assembly Building, located about three miles from the pad.
Credits: NASA
2014-1719a.jpg
In this photograph taken March 11, 2014, Launch Pad 39A looks much like it did after the liftoff of STS-135, the final space shuttle mission which lifted off July 8, 2011. This view shows the flam trench where smoke and flame from the shuttle's twin solid rocket boosters were deflected away from the pad.
Credits: NASA/Dan Casper
By Bob Granath
NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
The historic site where American astronauts first launched to the moon was the location of a recent landmark agreement, part of NASA’s continuing process to transform the Kennedy Space Center in Florida into a 21st century spaceport. During ceremonies on April 14, agency officials announced they signed a property agreement with SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., for use and operation of Launch Complex (LC) 39A for the next 20 years.
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden stated that pad A is beginning a new mission as a commercial launch site, part of an ongoing effort to collaborate with industry in meeting the agency's objectives.
"NASA today signed a property agreement with SpaceX, which allows them to develop Launch Complex 39A to serve as a platform for the company's future commercial launch activities," he said during a news briefing at the pad. "SpaceX and our other commercial partners are a critical part of our exploration strategy. This includes the (International Space Station), proving technologies in deep space, the asteroid initiative that brings an asteroid closer to Earth so astronauts can visit it and a mission to Mars in the 2030s."
Bob Cabana, Kennedy's director, noted that permitting the pad's use and operation by a commercial space partner will ensure its continued viability and allow for its on-going use in support of the nation's space activities.
"This agreement will preserve this national asset and will enable commercial operations at Kennedy," he said. "We continue to enable commercial operations from the Cape, allowing them to use national assets that would otherwise sit empty and decay."
Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, noted that her company places a high value on the significance of the launch site.
"We're honored to sign the lease a few minutes ago." she said. "Pad 39A is a historic pad. I'm so excited that NASA has selected us to be one of their partners and also to be one of their partners in developing pad 39A "
Founded in 2002, SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft such as the Falcon 9 and Dragon respectively. The Dragon capsule first delivered supplies to the space station in May 2012. The company also is the only private enterprise to return a spacecraft from the station.
The new agreement is another step in transitioning from a historically government-only launch facility of the Apollo and space shuttle eras, into a multi-user spaceport for both federal and commercial customers. Partnerships between NASA and other organizations are a key element in that effort.
"I want to commend Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana for his ongoing tireless work to transform the center into a 21st century launch complex," Bolden said. "He's turned the retirement of the space shuttle into an opportunity to expand and strengthen America's leadership in space. He and his Kennedy team are focused on the ways this national asset can help us reach higher and send our astronauts even farther. This work creates jobs and stability for the future as it keeps our nation a leader in space exploration."
Originally built in the 1960s, LC-39A and B have served as backdrops for some of America's most significant human spaceflight endeavors. Both were designed for the huge Saturn V rockets that launched American astronauts on their Apollo journeys to the moon and back. Pad 39A is the site where Apollo 11 lifted off on July 16, 1969, on the first expedition to land on the moon.
Both pads were designed to support the concept of mobile launch operations, in which space vehicles are checked out and assembled in the protected environment of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The rockets then were transported to the pad atop a mobile launcher platform by large, tracked crawler-transporters for final processing and launch.
Following Skylab and the joint U.S.-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in the mid-1970s, the pads were modified to support space shuttle operations. For the shuttle, two permanent service towers were installed at each pad -- the fixed service structure and the rotating service structure. LC-39A again made history launching the first space shuttle mission on April 12, 1981.
In the three decades that followed, pads 39A and B supported all 135 space shuttle missions, the last lifting off from pad 39A on July 8, 2011.
Shotwell said SpaceX will use LC-39A for rockets such as the Falcon Heavy, currently under development. While using some of the existing systems, new construction is planned.
"We will launch the Falcon Heavys from this pad early next year," she said during the briefing at pad 39A. "We'll be building a hangar not far from here on the path for rolling the vehicle to the pad. There will be some modifications, but the historic elements, obviously, we're leaving (in place)."
While partnering with industry for launching to low-Earth orbit, NASA is also at work assembling its Orion spacecraft and preparing Kennedy's infrastructure to support the Space Launch System rocket. Bolden explained that Orion is a key part of the agency’s plans to explore beyond Earth.
"Just a few miles south of here is SLC-37, or Space launch Complex 37, the (United Launch Alliance) Delta IV complex from which Orion will take to space later this year on Exploration Flight Test-1," he said. "Orion will travel farther and faster than any spacecraft built for humans in more than 40 years. And that test will be a major milestone in our work to send humans to an asteroid and later to Mars."
Bolden noted that work at these launch pads demonstrates NASA's strategy for human space exploration.
"While we make advances in commercial access to low-Earth orbit, we're on a parallel path to develop the new technologies to send humans farther into space," he said. "Part of NASA's charge since the beginning of President Obama's administration has been to serve as a catalyst for a vibrant commercial space industry. What we're seeing here today demonstrates one of the many ways that strategy is paying off."
Here is a little history of the NASA Agreement with SpaceX:
NASA, SpaceX Sign Property Agreement for Historic Launch Pad
2014
Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana announces that on April 14, 2014 NASA signed a property agreement with SpaceX for use and operation of Launch Complex 39A. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, left, and Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, look on. SpaceX will use Launch Complex 39A for rockets such as the Falcon Heavy, currently under development.
Credits: NASA/Dan Casper
apollo_11.jpg
On July 16, 1969, a huge, 363-foot tall Apollo/Saturn V thunders to life at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. The Apollo 11 mission was the first to land astronauts on the moon.
Credits: NASA
sts-1.jpg
The launch of the first space shuttle ushered in a new era in the utilization of space on April 12, 1981 when astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen lifted off at Launch Complex 39A.
An aerial view of Launch Complex 39A taken on Sept. 12, 2000, catches by the early morning sun where the space shuttle Discovery awaits launch on STS-92. In addition to the pad itself, the launch complex includes infrastructure such as the 300,000-gallon water tank tower, to the left of the pad that is part of the sound suppression system. Pipes from the tank can be seen coiling under the pad next to the opening of the flame trench. In the foreground is a retention pond, another is at right center. The ball-shaped structure on the far right is an 850,000-gallon storage tank for the cryogenic liquid oxygen, one of the propellants of the shuttle’s main engines. On the horizon is the Vehicle Assembly Building, located about three miles from the pad.
Credits: NASA
2014-1719a.jpg
In this photograph taken March 11, 2014, Launch Pad 39A looks much like it did after the liftoff of STS-135, the final space shuttle mission which lifted off July 8, 2011. This view shows the flam trench where smoke and flame from the shuttle's twin solid rocket boosters were deflected away from the pad.
Credits: NASA/Dan Casper
By Bob Granath
NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
The historic site where American astronauts first launched to the moon was the location of a recent landmark agreement, part of NASA’s continuing process to transform the Kennedy Space Center in Florida into a 21st century spaceport. During ceremonies on April 14, agency officials announced they signed a property agreement with SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., for use and operation of Launch Complex (LC) 39A for the next 20 years.
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden stated that pad A is beginning a new mission as a commercial launch site, part of an ongoing effort to collaborate with industry in meeting the agency's objectives.
"NASA today signed a property agreement with SpaceX, which allows them to develop Launch Complex 39A to serve as a platform for the company's future commercial launch activities," he said during a news briefing at the pad. "SpaceX and our other commercial partners are a critical part of our exploration strategy. This includes the (International Space Station), proving technologies in deep space, the asteroid initiative that brings an asteroid closer to Earth so astronauts can visit it and a mission to Mars in the 2030s."
Bob Cabana, Kennedy's director, noted that permitting the pad's use and operation by a commercial space partner will ensure its continued viability and allow for its on-going use in support of the nation's space activities.
"This agreement will preserve this national asset and will enable commercial operations at Kennedy," he said. "We continue to enable commercial operations from the Cape, allowing them to use national assets that would otherwise sit empty and decay."
Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, noted that her company places a high value on the significance of the launch site.
"We're honored to sign the lease a few minutes ago." she said. "Pad 39A is a historic pad. I'm so excited that NASA has selected us to be one of their partners and also to be one of their partners in developing pad 39A "
Founded in 2002, SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft such as the Falcon 9 and Dragon respectively. The Dragon capsule first delivered supplies to the space station in May 2012. The company also is the only private enterprise to return a spacecraft from the station.
The new agreement is another step in transitioning from a historically government-only launch facility of the Apollo and space shuttle eras, into a multi-user spaceport for both federal and commercial customers. Partnerships between NASA and other organizations are a key element in that effort.
"I want to commend Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana for his ongoing tireless work to transform the center into a 21st century launch complex," Bolden said. "He's turned the retirement of the space shuttle into an opportunity to expand and strengthen America's leadership in space. He and his Kennedy team are focused on the ways this national asset can help us reach higher and send our astronauts even farther. This work creates jobs and stability for the future as it keeps our nation a leader in space exploration."
Originally built in the 1960s, LC-39A and B have served as backdrops for some of America's most significant human spaceflight endeavors. Both were designed for the huge Saturn V rockets that launched American astronauts on their Apollo journeys to the moon and back. Pad 39A is the site where Apollo 11 lifted off on July 16, 1969, on the first expedition to land on the moon.
Both pads were designed to support the concept of mobile launch operations, in which space vehicles are checked out and assembled in the protected environment of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The rockets then were transported to the pad atop a mobile launcher platform by large, tracked crawler-transporters for final processing and launch.
Following Skylab and the joint U.S.-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in the mid-1970s, the pads were modified to support space shuttle operations. For the shuttle, two permanent service towers were installed at each pad -- the fixed service structure and the rotating service structure. LC-39A again made history launching the first space shuttle mission on April 12, 1981.
In the three decades that followed, pads 39A and B supported all 135 space shuttle missions, the last lifting off from pad 39A on July 8, 2011.
Shotwell said SpaceX will use LC-39A for rockets such as the Falcon Heavy, currently under development. While using some of the existing systems, new construction is planned.
"We will launch the Falcon Heavys from this pad early next year," she said during the briefing at pad 39A. "We'll be building a hangar not far from here on the path for rolling the vehicle to the pad. There will be some modifications, but the historic elements, obviously, we're leaving (in place)."
While partnering with industry for launching to low-Earth orbit, NASA is also at work assembling its Orion spacecraft and preparing Kennedy's infrastructure to support the Space Launch System rocket. Bolden explained that Orion is a key part of the agency’s plans to explore beyond Earth.
"Just a few miles south of here is SLC-37, or Space launch Complex 37, the (United Launch Alliance) Delta IV complex from which Orion will take to space later this year on Exploration Flight Test-1," he said. "Orion will travel farther and faster than any spacecraft built for humans in more than 40 years. And that test will be a major milestone in our work to send humans to an asteroid and later to Mars."
Bolden noted that work at these launch pads demonstrates NASA's strategy for human space exploration.
"While we make advances in commercial access to low-Earth orbit, we're on a parallel path to develop the new technologies to send humans farther into space," he said. "Part of NASA's charge since the beginning of President Obama's administration has been to serve as a catalyst for a vibrant commercial space industry. What we're seeing here today demonstrates one of the many ways that strategy is paying off."
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'Everything works out in the end,,,If it hasn't worked out,,it's not the end'
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https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/957208055766241280
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