Launch Towers
Each pad contained a two-piece access tower system, the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The FSS permitted access to the Shuttle via a retractable arm and a "beanie cap" to capture vented LOX from the External Tank. The RSS contained the Payload Changeout Room, which offered "clean" access to the orbiter's payload bay, protection from the elements, and protection in winds up to 60 knots (110 km/h). Also at each pad were large cryogenic tanks that stored the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) for the SSMEs. The highly explosive nature of these chemicals required numerous safety measures at the Launch Complex. NASA calculated the minimum safe distance for a fully fueled Space Shuttle stack was three miles (5 km) for personnel, and 8,700 feet (2,700 m) between pads. Before tanking operations began and during launch, non-essential personnel were excluded from the danger area. The Launch Control Center and Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) were almost exactly three miles (5 km) away.
Read more about this topic: Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, Space Shuttle Usage
Famous quotes containing the words launch and/or towers:
“I had often stood on the banks of the Concord, watching the lapse of the current, an emblem of all progress, following the same law with the system, with time, and all that is made ... and at last I resolved to launch myself on its bosom and float whither it would bear me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“From whatever you wish to know and measure you must take your leave, at least for a time. Only when you have left the town can you see how high its towers rise above the houses.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)