Went to visit the Shuttles

[Crash Cash]

They have Atlantis for STS-125 (last Hubble servicing) parked on 39A and Endeavour for STS-400 (the rescue standby) on 39B now.

Normally the orbiters are covered by the Rotating Service Structure which clamshells over the payload bay so that they can open the doors safely and load the payloads in a clean environment. Saturday morning they kept the RSSes open for a photo-op, since this will be the last time you'll ever see this. So I went up to the observation tower at the visitor's center and took pictures. They sucked, and there's much better ones on the net so I'm not posting them. At least I can say I was there.

I'll miss those 'ol death-traps, but I'm glad they're finally getting a move-on with a successor. It was a beautiful day too, so it was a nice excuse for a ride. The motorcycle parking area was chock full of bikes. I was the only FJR there, though.

 

[Mizz Bustanut]

The motorcycle parking area was chock full of bikes. I was the only FJR there, though.

Too bad they don't know the difference between a great bike and just a bike.

 

[madmike2]

Too bad they don't know the difference between a great bike and just a bike.

BUT....that makes it better for those of us who own an FJR. Some folks might own one but not appreciate what they have. They like their image and we like to ride and enjoy the type of bike we have. Ch-ch-ch-choices! :yahoo:

Crash Cash, luckily you take advantage of opportunities that are presented to you.

 

[Hit the Road Jack]

I worked for ten years as a Shuttle Orbiter Mechanical Systems engineer ('88-'98). It truly is impressive to see the orbiters on the pad, and even more impressive once you are actually on the pad with them!

It's amazing the amount of brute force required to accelerate the shuttle stack to 100 mph straight up by the time it clears the tower and to Mach 1 in about 45 seconds. And to feel that thrust pound against your chest during a launch is more awesome than any dragrace.

I'm glad you got to ride your FJR out to the site and catch a final glimpse of technical welfare at it's finest!

 

[odot]

UWOPs.

 

[artistonFJR]

I heard that for the Gen III Shuttles they have fixed the throttle issue (jerky) , added a scratch resistant coating to the windscreens, that pesky heat issue was solved by FINALLY determining that the panels "out" was for cold weather, and the panels "in" was for hot weather, new ABS, and new grips... other than that the only difference is some black trim pieces... wait... that... was the article on the new Feej..damn

I know I read something about the new shuttles. I'll get back when I find the article.

C