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Titan Cape I-T-L Finale
The upcoming Titan IVB launch is the last flight planned
from Cape Canaveral's 40-year old Space Launch Complex 40. It will also be the final launch processed at the original far-flung Titan IIIC I-T-L (Integrate - Transfer - Launch) complex. The complex, completed in 1965, was a rail-mobile based site that was originally designed to handle as many as 50 launches per year. But the maximum launch rate was more like 4 per year after the cancellation of the Manned Orbiting Lab (MOL) project. According to: "https://www.patrick.af.mil/heritage/LaFacility/CPX40-41.htm", the upcoming launch will be the 82nd Titan launch from the ITL site (27 from Pad 41, 55 from Pad 40). Core Titan vehicles were stacked on one of several mobile launchers in the four-bay Vertical Integration Facility (VIF), then rolled - pushed actually - by twin locomotives to the Solid Motor Assembly Building (SMAB) where twin segmented solid motors were added. The final move would position the rocket either on SLC 40 or SLC 41. I-T-L was the Air Force equivalent of NASA's Launch Complex 39, but the secrecy surronding its operations meant that it garnered little attention. SLC 41 supported Titan IIIE during the 1970s, which launched the Viking and Voyager probes. A new solid motor assembly building, named SMARF, was constructed during the early 1990s to process the new Titan IVB solid motors. Titan IVB performed a final NASA launch when it orbited Cassini from SLC 40 in 1997. SLC 41 is slightly more than four miles from the VIF. Most of the complex is built on 6.5 million cubic yards of landfill that was dredged from the bottom of the Banana River. A third pad (LC 42) was planned, but never built. What will happen to the site after the last Titan launch? It seems possible that many of the structures will find other uses. SLC 41 has already been converted for use by Atlas V, but with its own new VIF near the pad. A solid motor processing building has been converted into an Atlas V checkout and launch control center. It is believed that defense payloads are still tested somewhere on the site prior to launch. But the "Titan Railroad" is about to be mothballed and the VIF and SMARF, along with SLC 40, appear to have no immediate future use. It will be interesting to see if one of NASA's CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle) bidders proposes use of the site. - Ed Kyle "www.geocities.com/launchreport/weblog.html" |
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On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 10:16:58 -0500, Ed Kyle wrote
(in article . com): The upcoming Titan IVB launch is the last flight planned from Cape Canaveral's 40-year old Space Launch Complex 40. (Snipped good stuff) Thanks for that post. That was fascinating. -- Herb Schaltegger, GPG Key ID: BBF6FC1C "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin, 1759 http://www.individual-i.com/ |
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Ed Kyle wrote:
Core Titan vehicles were stacked on one of several mobile launchers in the four-bay Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) Sorry. Make that Vertical Integration Building (VIB). - Ed Kyle |
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Herb Schaltegger wrote in
.com: On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 10:16:58 -0500, Ed Kyle wrote (in article . com): The upcoming Titan IVB launch is the last flight planned from Cape Canaveral's 40-year old Space Launch Complex 40. (Snipped good stuff) Thanks for that post. That was fascinating. Likewise. Good job, Ed. --Damon |
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"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
ups.com... The upcoming Titan IVB launch is the last flight planned from Cape Canaveral's 40-year old Space Launch Complex 40. It will also be the final launch processed at the original far-flung Titan IIIC I-T-L (Integrate - Transfer - Launch) complex. The complex, completed in 1965, was a rail-mobile based site that was originally designed to handle as many as 50 launches per year. [snip] But the "Titan Railroad" is about to be mothballed and the VIB and SMARF, along with SLC 40, appear to have no immediate future use. It will be interesting to see if one of NASA's CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle) bidders proposes use of the site. - Ed Kyle "www.geocities.com/launchreport/weblog.html" Ed - Thanks for that. I was closest to the VIB for both shuttle launches that I observed in the 1990s (Discovery & Columbia). The "Titan heydays" before the Saturn V launches, movie clips from Marooned, what could have been and might be some day (CEV) from the SLC 40 facility. gb |
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Ed Kyle wrote:
The upcoming Titan IVB launch is the last flight planned from Cape Canaveral's 40-year old Space Launch Complex 40. It will also be the final launch processed at the original far-flung Titan IIIC I-T-L (Integrate - Transfer - Launch) complex. ... I've added an interesting photo of the Titan launch site that was taken from ISS a few weeks back. It is a small part of the image made that showed Discovery in mid-rollout. "www.geocities.com/launchreport/weblog.html" There is quite a contrast in the image between the far-flung Titan launch site and the newer EELV pads. Those interested might want to read the story at spaceflightnow.com that discusses the several hundred job losses that will follow tonight's (4/29/05) final Cape Canaveral Titan IVB launch. - Ed Kyle |
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