GETTING A NEEDED LIFT SHUTTLE PREPPED FOR FLIGHT BACK TO FLORIDA.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. Discovery has at least three more days to spend in California getting ready for its cross-country trip back to Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics in Florida, NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. officials said Friday. About 270 technicians, engineers and inspectors are working around the clock, preparing the shuttle to be lifted onto the back of a modified 747 for the two-day trip, which is expected to occur no earlier than Tuesday morning. The takeoff flight is expected to occur at dawn to take advantage of the greater aerodynamic lift Noun 1. aerodynamic lift - the component of the aerodynamic forces acting on an airfoil that opposes gravity lift aerodynamic force - forces acting on airfoils in motion relative to the air (or other gaseous fluids) provided by cooler air, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. spokesman Alan Brown
Because the shuttle is at Edwards Air Force Base, the departure will not be open to the public, Brown said. Technicians on Friday were drying the shuttle's rocket engines and their associated plumbing to purge them of residual fuel and liquid oxygen before installation of an aerodynamic tailcone over the exhaust nozzles. Inspections of Discovery's thermal protection system are ongoing and will continue until the orbiter is ready to be mounted on its 747 carrier aircraft. Despite worry about an unexpectedly large chunk of insulation that broke off the external tank during launch, preliminary inspection showed less damage to the heat-resistant ``tiles'' and other thermal shields than after previous flights, NASA officials said. Out of about 100 ``dings,'' or marks on thermal shields, only about 20 are an inch or larger in diameter, reflecting efforts to reduce the shedding of foam and ice from the external tank during launch, NASA said. A narrow section of thermal blanket that ballooned out under the left-side window will be removed for laboratory analysis. A protective cover will be installed in its place for the flight back to Florida. Over the weekend, cryogenic fuels and other hazardous substances will be removed. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Space shuttle Discovery undergoes post-flight servicing Thursday at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. NASA |
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