- Mate-Demate Device
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A Mate-Demate Device (MDD) is a specialized crane designed to lift a Space Shuttle orbiter onto and off of the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Three Mate-Demate Devices were built, all of different designs.
Atlantis being mated in California
The first MDD is located at Edwards Airforce Base in California. Many Space Shuttle missions were not able to land in Florida due to bad weather. All but one (STS-3) of these flights landed at Edwards instead. This MDD was used to hoist a Space Shuttle orbiter onto a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the flight back to Florida.[1]
The Mate-Demate Device at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida.The second MDD is located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's primary use is unloading the orbiter after its cross-country flight from Edwards.
Model of the Mate-Demate Device at Vandenberg.The third MDD was built for Space Shuttle operations at Vandenberg Airforce Base in California.
On rare occasions an orbiter needs to be loaded or unloaded at a location where no MDD is available. In these cases a pair of cranes is used instead.[2]
References
- ^ "NASA Dryden Fact Sheet - Shuttle Mate-Demate Device (MDD)". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-014-DFRC.html. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ "Teams Practice Lifting Shuttles at Airports". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/shuttleflyawaytesst.html. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
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