|
Shuttle Information
History
of the Space Shuttle
Orbiter Vehicles
Countdown OnLine
Latest
Shuttle Manifest
Mixed Fleet Launch Schedule
Shuttle Reference Manual
Approach and Landing Tests
Shuttle Mission Archive Index
|
|
|
Pathfinder |
The Pathfinder is a 75 ton
Orbiter simulator that was created
to work out the procedures for moving and handling the shuttle. It
was a steel structure roughly the size, weight and shape of an
orbiter. It was constructed at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
in 1977 and was used as a stand in for Enterprise to
test roads and cranes. Pathfinder was shipped by barge to KSC and was used for ground
crew testing in the VAB , OPF and
SLF. It was then returned to MSFC.
Pathfinder sat in storage for many years until a group of Japanese
businessmen offered to spend $1,000,000 to modify the vehicle to more
closely resemble a real orbiter. They used it at the "Great Space Shuttle
Exposition" in Tokyo, Japan. After the expo, it was returned to MSFC and
now is on permanent display at the Alabama Space and Rocket Center in
Huntsville Alabama. It is on a special platform and mounted to the Main
Propulsion Test Article (MPTA) External Tank used for early tanking tests.
|
