iiitsh@cybaswan.UUCP (Steve Hosgood) (09/22/89)
In article <32185@ames.arc.nasa.gov> yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes: > Preparations are underway to button up the orbiter for > adverse weather or for a roll back to the Vehicle Assembly > Building. The payload bay doors are scheduled to be closed this > morning, platforms are being retracted and loose items are being > secured. Servicing and testing of the cooling system for > Galileo's radioisotope thermoelectric generators was completed > yesterday. Deservicing of that cooling system is scheduled today. I hope this isn't a stupid question: Why is so much work - specifically payload servicing etc - done out in the open on the launchpad? It seems to me that all the work on the shuttle and its payload could (and should) have been done in the VAB, and that the whole stack should then just be rolled out, bolted down, pad interface checked for obvious problems, crew get in and WHOOSH! OK, so you fuel the ET on the pad, and maybe insert the SRB igniters there too. Why leave the whole thing out in the rain for maybe a month? Thanks in advance -----------------------------------------------+------------------------------ Steve Hosgood BSc, | Phone (+44) 792 295213 Image Processing and Systems Engineer, | Fax (+44) 792 295532 Institute for Industrial Information Techology,| Telex 48149 Innovation Centre, University of Wales, | JANET: iiitsh@uk.ac.swan.pyr Swansea SA2 8PP | UUCP: ..!ukc!cybaswan!iiitsh -----------------------------------------------+------------------------------ My views are not necessarily those of my employers! Please note the change in my username as of 1 Aug '89