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Greetings and Salutations:

From: markb@spock.dis.cccd.edu (Julie Bixby)
>I was wondering if someone at NASA could tell me how long before a
>launch one could take the KSC tour with a shuttle on the pad.

Well, the shuttle is actually on the pad for a couple of weeks before launch,
but unfortunately the RSS (Rotational Service Structure) is rolled around it
and you can't see the vehicle.  If you are lucky, you can usually see it at two
times.  Just after roll out from the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) and about
a day before launch (assuming the launch window coincides).

From: jwt@duke.cs.duke.edu (Jeffrey W. Tannehill)
>This brought up the question "Why is the
>bottom of the Shuttle black?"

The shuttle bottom is black because that is the color of the protective coating
of the tiles.  I actually got a sample from Lockheed of the tile and bought a
butane torch at Radio Shack.  While heating the black surface (looking at it) I
held the white part of the tile with my hands.  The black surface turned bright
orange and I could feel the radiation on my face (approx. a foot away).  My
fingers could not feel the heat.

From: BrianT@cup.portal.com (Brian Stuart Thorn)
>Oh, and despite what has been posted here from time to time, the
>SPACEPORT USA tourist attraction DOES NOT provide bus rides to see
>a Shuttle launch. The facility DOES NOT open until something like
>two hours after a launch on the day in question.

The following is still true, and if you want tickets, order now.  They are
going fast:

The KSC visitor center offers bus rides from the visitor's center to a site
about 6  miles from the launch pad. The cost is $6 for adults, $3 for children.
For information and reservations you will need to call 407-452-2121  Ext.
260...(This is the BEST and closest view.)

>The black tiles are rated for the highest temperatures and are used

Actually, the gray insulation on the nose & forward leading edge, the RCC
(Reinforced Carbon-Carbon), is rated for the highest temperature usage.

>The lowest temperatures on the shuttle are experienced on the 
>upper surfaces, i.e., the tops of the wings and the tops of the
>payload bay doors. In this area, NASA switched from white tiles
>to thermal blankets in 1984, so Discovery, Atlantis,

The payload bay doors and part of the wings always had blankets, even on
Columbia.  The forward fuselage and parts of the wings had tiles on them.

>Please note that the tiles and blankets have proven very effective
>in the years since the 1981-82 test flights, despite their
>reputation for being a maintenance nightmare. The average flight
>requires the replacement of only a half-dozen tiles (more on the

I believe the number is more on the order of a dozen or more.  There are
usually 150 to 200 hit noted on the tiles, with some 10 to 20 of 1 inch or
greater.


From: Darrell Holloway
Subj: Space Shuttle Book

Just thought I'd tell you all about the best book I have ever seen
regarding the Space Shuttle.  It has just come out in print.

title:      SPACE SHUTTLE

subtitle:   The History of Developing the National Space
            Transportation System

author:     Dennis R. Jenkins

ISBN:       0-9633974-0-0  $24.95
  Hard Back 0-9633974-1-9

290 pages plus appendices


Distribution By:

Motorbooks International
P.O. Box 2
729 Prospect Avenue
Osceola, Wisconsin
                 54020

This is absolutely priceless as a non-technical reference manual
for Shuttle buffs or others simply interested in our current manned
space program.  Technically it is surprisingly accurate, and covers
all flights up to and including STS-50, and includes, in great
detail the early approach and landing tests conducted by
Enterprise.  The history of the STS program is beautifully covered.
The book is available as a paperback with a cover price of $24.95.
Included in the book are over 250 color and B/W photos and over
1,000 sketches and drawings.

I bought the book for myself as a Christmas present and am really
thrilled by it, finally a book on the shuttle system not written by
NASA or Rockwell which realistically details it's history,
capabilities, shortcomings, and design.  As an engineer at the cape
working on the shuttle it is a very welcome find.  I was so tired
of those glossy, canned treatments I seen before in many colorful
but vague coffee-table type books.

Well worth the cost.  I highly recommend it.

I have not met Mr. Jenkins yet but I understand that he works at
the Cape and I intend to look him up and thank him personally.

                                            Darrell Holloway

-- 
-----------------------------------------------
Ken Hollis  INTERNET: HOLLIS@TITAN.KSC.NASA.GOV
            SPAN/HEPnet: KSCP00::HOLLIS
Due to additional budget constraints, the light at the end of the tunnel
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