KSC activities


The Lauch-Pad offers a spectacular view of the external fuel tank and one of the booster rockets of the shuttle.	The massive booster rockets on the side of the main fuel tank.	The entry to the cabin and mid deck of the Shuttle is through the a special port, that is part of a clean-room environment.

The programming of cockpit computers is a significant part of launch preparations.	Much of the cargo is mounted with the Shuttle in vertical position. Therefore, the technicians work harnessed and suspended from the top, the back side of the mid-deck.	The impressive size of the Shuttle wings and fuselage as it is positioned on the launch pad.


The main-engine compartment houses the massive fuels lines, pumps and control units.	The cargo space in the shuttle accommodated the Spacehab module. The aft wall was designed to hold equipment and lockers that in turn hold individual experiments.

Hardware testing, here a middeck locker with our experiment, takes place in the Orbiter Environmental Simulator (OES) that is programmed to simulate light, temperature and CO₂ conditions of the shuttle and now the ISS.	The astronaut crew for STS got an early start in familiarizing themselves with the science and experimental detail of the Biotube hardware and MICRO experiment. Left to right: Mission Specialist Michael Anderson Mission Specialist David Brown, Pilot William "Willie" McCool, Dave Cox, April Boody, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon (Israel), Karl H. Hasenstein (PI), Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Comander Rick Husband, and (barely visible) Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla