How was the Shuttle loaded and unloaded from its carrier aircraft?

Question

The Space Shuttle was ferried to various locations by the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. How was the shuttle put on and taken off the SCA?

(Previously mentioned in this comment but never asked or answered directly.)

Pictures would be nice.

Organic Marble · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-16T16:39:15.040

44

The loading / unloading fixture was called the Mate / Demate Device. There were permanent ones at Kennedy Space Center and at Edwards Airforce Base (the nominal Orbiter landing sites).

There was a third device, somewhat different in appearance, the Orbiter Lifting Fixture (OLF). This was used at at Palmdale (where the Orbiters were built) when they went back there for major mods and maintenance. Here's a small picture of the OLF from spaceflightnow.com When the major mod work was moved to KSC, this was eventually torn down.

There was also a Mobile Mate-demate Device, basically just a strongback which could be used with normal cranes and would have been used if an intact ascent abort (or emergency deorbit) had ever left the Orbiter at an unusual runway. This device ended up being used in the process of moving the Orbiters to museums.

Here is the mobile device being set up to be used by cranes, it's the yellow rectangular frame.

Here it is in use.

Photos: NASA

Sources: wikipedia, NASA Dryden, Spaceflight Insider

The Orbiter interfaced with all these devices through four rather inconspicuous "hoist attach points" (red arrows).

Source: SODB Volume IV aka the "crash book"

edited Sep 16 '19 at 16:39

answered Jul 07 '19 at 01:44

Organic Marble

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Was the Mobile Mate-Demate Device used when the orbiter landed at White Sands on STS-3? – pericynthion Jul 08 '19 at 02:16
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@pericynthion It was indeed: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f5/b4/20/f5b4208fc328e86ace732f3bd625055c.jpg and https://www.holloman.af.mil/Art/igphoto/2000917895/ – Organic Marble Jul 08 '19 at 02:44
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Also, just to mention, the 747's attachment for the Shuttle is a bit cheeky – BruceWayne Jul 08 '19 at 03:03
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@BruceWayne https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/23021/is-this-attach-orbiter-here-note-black-side-down-sign-on-the-shuttle-carrie/23023#23023 – Organic Marble Jul 08 '19 at 03:05
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Interesting to see the distribution of weight in the Orbiter by the yellow frame on the mobile device. – JAD Jul 08 '19 at 07:36
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@JAD But notice there are two cranes lifting (admittedly the one at the back is a lot beefier). – Martin Bonner supports Monica Jul 08 '19 at 10:24
@MartinBonner ah, I missed that :/ – JAD Jul 08 '19 at 10:34
Is that mobile sling just the same sling they used for lift-and-stack in the VAB? – Tristan Sep 17 '19 at 13:56
@Tristan it is certainly similar - maybe identical - but I don't think it is physically the same device. – Organic Marble Sep 17 '19 at 14:15

How was the Shuttle loaded and unloaded from its carrier aircraft?

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