 Orbiter
Safing Activities
Once the Orbiter has landed at Kennedy Space
Center, a convoy (consisting of about 25 specially designed
vehicles or units and a team of about 150 trained personnel)
assist the crew in leaving the Orbiter, "safe" the Orbiter,
prepare it for towing, and tow the vehicle to the Orbiter
Processing Facility (OPF). The Orbiter then undergoes additional
safing procedures in the OPF that include removing residual
fuels and explosive ordnance items. Then the Orbiter's previous
mission payloads are removed and the vehicle is fully inspected,
tested, and refurbished for its next mission. These functions
require approximately two-thirds of the time between missions.
The remainder is devoted to the installation and checkout of the
payload for the next mission.
Younger and older guests can physically
place and remove umbilical connections, inspect the Orbiter’s
heat tiles to see if any are missing and replace those missing.
Inside the “Orbiter”, older guests can virtually inspect the
vehicle for items that need to be removed, replaced or repaired
for the next mission. Graphic panels briefly explain “safing”
and the Orbiter Processing Facility and show personnel
processing the Orbiter.
Fast Facts:
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