Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 (1:144)

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

after a few turbulences in the last time, it can go on now, although after the long holiday break it's not so easy again to fall into the usual tinkering modus.

The 3D model of my friend Joe's AFTC ring was almost on the way to the Shapeways printers, but what's the name of it?
Things never turn out the way you expect.

And that had once again to do with the selection of reference photos, where one should not be intoxicated only by the details of great Hi-Res photos, because also the respective time window of such photos may not be disregarded, if one wants to build a specific mission.

That's what happened to me with the last photos of the AFTCs, such like this one, which comes from the STS-121 (2006) and thus from a rather late mission,


Source: NASA

what inevitably raises the question of whether the Aft Skirts of the boosters at the time of STS-6 have looked similar, or possibly different.

Since I was not able to find any photos that belong to the STS-6 yet, I again searched the Hi-Res archives of NSF Forums (L2) and were very surprised when I have come across this great shot in the thread STS-1: Hi Res Images.


Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (heng44)

The conspicuous thing about it are the silver stripes between the ASTC segments, which immediately have reminded me of the SRB Mock-ups on the KSC grounds,


Source: NASA

but they only have 16 segments, as one can see here.


Source: NASA (KSC/Mapio.net)

However, as you can see on the STS-1 photo, there were four segments between the two SRB supports, giving a total of 24 segments, whereas the older Mock-ups had only two, what could be a simplified design with only 16 segments.

Therefore, I assume that the ASTCs in the STS-6 also consisted of 24 segments each, as in the STS-1 two years ago.

At this later photo (2013) of the Mok-ups in front of the entrance to the Atlantis Exhibition Hall on the KSC Visitor Complex there should also be 26 segments, which are covered with stripes at the seams.


Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Lee Jay)

But ultimately, what matters is the ASTC configuration that was present at the launch of the Shuttle stack at the mission, therefore for me the image of the STS-1 is crucial for further 3D modeling.

By now I have already instructed my friend Joe, so now he only needs the modified Stripe width, which can be determined from the Segment width, resulting from the circumference of the AFTC ring (Ø 30 mm) with

C = 30 mm x 3,14 = 94 mm / 24 = 3,9 mm

With this Segment width as the reference value, the STS-1 image results in a width of the stripes of 1 mm above the seams between the segments in the 3D model.



And so I've changed my previous sketch, which now looks like this.



That agrees well with the resin parts in the Newware-Space Shuttle Enhancement Kit 1/144 (NW131), as one can see from the drawing in the construction manual, wherefore this kit seems to me to be really worthwhile.



So my friend Joe can now customize his 3D model and upload it soon to Shapeways.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

by a contribution in the ARC Forum meanwhile a few new insights to the AFTCs resulted, over which I would like to report briefly.

First of all, there is this photo from an interesting perspective looking at the lower edge of the SRB-Aft Skirt, where the individual ASTC segments are also glued over with silver cover strips, as in the STS-1 photo.


Source: georgesrockets.com

And from the same source also comes this great photo here of the Columbia, but unfortunately without specifying the mission.


Source: georgesrockets.com

This for me so far unknown source is the website George's Rocket Pages of George Gassaway, which according to my previous overview I deem for the ultimate treasure trove for all shuttle scratch modelers, if only because of the valuable collection of detailed drawings there, which are coming just in time for the modeling of the ASTCs and especially of the ET-Intertank, which is why I have now modified my sketch for the third time, but of course all good things come in threes.



And therefore once more back to this awesome Hi-Res SRB photo from the STS-121 (2006), where one can even see the cords with which the AFTCs were sewn together. But so far I did not know if these seams still were covered with stripes before the launch as one could see on the already shown STS-1 photo.


Source: NASA

But on this photo from Endeavour's last mission STS-134 (2011) one can see the same kind of ASTC segments with cords but without stripes.


Source: NASA

And in this sence now to an awesome NASA video, "Best of the Best" of Shuttle Launches, that many of you will surely know already.

This video from the Glenn Research Center highlights in stunning imagery in slow motion the launches of three Space shuttle missions: STS-114, STS-117, and STS-124.

And there one can see from 6:28 the Aft Skirts with the ASTCs, the segments of which have no cover stripes like in this shot at 7:37.



This video is so overwhelming and unique that one can watch it again and again in full length.

[beckychestney]

Ah! Glenn Research Center! What a fun place it was in the 70's and 80's when it was still Lewis! I went to many an open house and visited the old Visitor Information Center at least once a year (usually 2 or 3 times!). Post 9-11 the VIC was very restricted and after they built the Great Lakes Science Center downtown (Cleveland) they moved some of the NASA exhibits down there. But I have VERY fond memories of the Apollo era museum and it's exhibits! They had a theater where launches were shown live on the big screen!

[spacerunner]

Hi Becky,

it seems that you've been getting around quite a bit already.

[spacerunner]

Hello together,

and from the last photos like this one, my friend Joe was really excited,


Quelle: georgesrockets.com

and has then immediately modified his 3D model and meant that these strips could be applied best by sticking of thin bare metal foil, instead of painting them silver,


Source: arcforums.com (crackerjazz)

which I can well imagine, e.g. by gluing strips from simple aluminum household foil, or even better with self-adhesive aluminum foil, which one can already buy somewhere, right?

In the meantime, I have been able to narrow down the time window of this photo (without a mission number), since four of the lower SRB rings already have the Instafoam isolation, wherefore it could be earliest at the STS -61C (1986), where this was the case for the first time.
And with this result, it is now certain that the ASTCs at the STS-6 (1983) also had these silver foil insulation strips already.

[eagleclaw4935]

Try Bare Metal Foil. A lot of car modelers
use that for bumpers and trim. And it works great for Apollo command moduels as well.

[spacerunner]

Thanks eagleclaw4935, I think so too.

Hello everybody,

meanwhile I have tested some materials for the AFTC strips.

Ideal would be adhesive metal foil strips with the thickness like TAMIYA Masking Tape, at which I measured 0,03 mm, which would be comparable to aluminum household foil (0,03 mm), which unfortunately does not stick.
And then I also tested a silver party streamer (0,06 mm), which were table decoration during our last dinner in a restaurant.

But just cutting 1 mm wide strips of this thin stuff is already getting used to,



not to mention the subsequent gluing on the plastic half pipe, for which I first used thin CA.

The left strip is from the party streamer, the two right strips are from the household foil and have about the later required distance of about 4 mm.



And then I was very daring and glued a 4th strip with MEK, which surprisingly seems to work too.



This was not totally surprising for me, because I have already made the experience that the SSWS Pipe Supports let glue itself with MEK on the paper layer of the MLP deck, whereby the installation of the pipe framework is easier of course, since I only need brushing around the support's floor plates without having to lift them.

[beckychestney]

Originally Posted by spacerunner

Hi Becky,

it seems that you've been getting around quite a bit already.

[spacerunner]

Hi Becky,
wow, Cleveland is admittedly far away, but now you're much closer to me.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

and so once more back to the photo of the Columbia with the AFTC silver strips in the collection of George Gassaway (without mission number), which after intensive research I can assign meanwhile, which is always important to me, and here with the right source.


Source: spacefacts.de

After I firstly have scoured through the NASA Media Archive and then the website of Capcomespace in the 3rd attempt at Spacefacts, I finally have found out that it deals with the STS-50 (1992).

And through this search, I now know that these silver foil insulation strips on the AFTCs were used at least until STS-85 (1997) and disappeared only later.


Source: spacefacts.de

On this photo of the STS-89 (1998) one can recognize even at Hi-Res. no more silver strips with security, I imagine at least with my meanwhile trained silver-strip-eye.


Source: mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov

On the other hand, I think that in this photo of the STS-99 (2000), one can easily see at Hi-Res. that there were no silver strips, what then also remained until the end of the Space Shuttle program with STS-135 (2011).


Source: mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov

From the intervening seven missions STS-90, STS-91, STS-95, STS-88, STS-96, STS-93 and STS-103 I could not find any reliable photos unfortunately until now, whereby one should not be wondered about the unsystematic numbering of the missions.

If any of you find usable photos of it, please let me know.

Now that's enough of the long AFTC searches, i.e. one photo I still want to show finally, namely this one here,


Source: Library of Congress (HAER No. TX-116-K-21)

with an interesting view at the inside of this ring-shaped hollow flexible flame curtain (George Gassaway), and here once more a larger view.