Space Shuttle Main Engine prepares to get "fired up"

Jessica Rye
August 3, 2004
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)

PHOTO RELEASE: P09-04

SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE PREPARES TO GET "FIRED UP"

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)
Processing Facility, Boeing-Rocketdyne crane operator Joe Ferrante (second
from right) lifts SSME 2058, the first SSME fully assembled at KSC, with the
assistance of other technicians on his team. The engine is being lifted from
its vertical work stand into a horizontal position in preparation for
shipment to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to undergo a hot fire
acceptance test. It is the first of five engines to be fully assembled on
site to reach the desired number of 15 engines ready for launch at any given
time in the Space Shuttle program. A Space Shuttle has three reusable main
engines. Each is 14 feet long, weighs about 7,800 pounds, is
seven-and-a-half feet in diameter at the end of its nozzle, and generates
almost 400,000 pounds of thrust. Historically, SSMEs were assembled in
Canoga Park, Calif., with post-flight inspections performed at KSC. Both
functions were consolidated in February 2002. The Rocketdyne Propulsion and
Power division of The Boeing Co. manufactures the engines for NASA.

KSC Photo Number: KSC-04PD-1645


A complete gallery of NASA Kennedy Space Center photos is available at
http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/index.cfm

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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info