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Question(s) About Shuttle Tranport

Boeing Nut From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Posted (7 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 1471 times:

Now that Discovery is hitching a ride on the ole "whale" back to JSC, it has made me wonder. One question to ask about some thing that does occur, and the other asking a theoretical question.

First, How does the Shuttle tailcone get tranported to wherever the Shuttle is? In other words, from Florida back to Edwards? Truck or train? The thing is awfully damn big.

Second, if the Shuttle Transporter 747 were a 747ERF, could it make the trip non-stop? We know that the chance of this happening is zero with the pending retirement of the Shuttle, but it just made me wonder.

2 replies: All unread, jump to last

Thorny From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 1, posted (7 years 9 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 1378 times:

Quoting Boeing Nut (Thread starter):
First, How does the Shuttle tailcone get tranported to wherever the Shuttle is? In other words, from Florida back to Edwards? Truck or train? The thing is awfully damn big.

The tailcones (there are two available, the second was built after Challenger like the second 747) are disassembled and shipped back to Edwards. That is also how the tailcones would be delivered to an abort landing site around the world, should the need arise.

Quoting Boeing Nut (Thread starter):
Second, if the Shuttle Transporter 747 were a 747ERF, could it make the trip non-stop? We know that the chance of this happening is zero with the pending retirement of the Shuttle, but it just made me wonder.

I have no idea, but another option is air-refuelling. NASA studied it and found there were no show-stoppers, they just decided it wasn't worth the cost of doing it.

Boeing Nut From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 2, posted (7 years 9 months 1 week 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 1337 times:

Quoting Thorny (Reply 1):
I have no idea, but another option is air-refuelling. NASA studied it and found there were no show-stoppers, they just decided it wasn't worth the cost of doing it.

That and I bet the turbulance from the tanker would raise hell with the shuttle too.

Thanks for the info Thorny. I had no idea til now that the tail cone was not just one piece.