KSC Tour 2009

KSC Tour 2009, a very special visit, two Orbiters on the pad’s 39 A & B, Atlantis and Endeavour, construction for future programs in full progress and all facilities open for inspection.

It was very rare that two shuttles would be on the pad ready to go but this was the case this day, only a handful of times for the duration for the program did this happen, eighteen to be exact, only four times were they not covered by the (RSS)rotating tower assembly’s. These spacecraft have flown for three decades in service to low earth orbit and with the program coming to an end over 50,000 visitors made their way perhaps for the last time.

Our group did not venture into any facilities on this trip to KSC Tour 2009, opting to use our access to both sides of the complex and split our time between KSC and CCAFS.

The era of NASA and ULA owning the monopoly on the launch facilities was coming to an end, SpaceX had already began taking possession of Launch Complex 40 on the CCAFS side of the Space Center and other were taking steps to occupy the (OPF) Orbiter Processing Facilities and Engine Shop attached to OPF 3.

Make no mistake this photo outing yielded images that record the changes underway at Kennedy Space Center, some of the buildings are now gone with the onset of new programs to support the commercialization of space.