The astronaut transfer van, known as the Astrovan during the Space Shuttle era, was a NASA vehicle used at the Kennedy Space Center to transport astronauts from the Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad before a mission and for launch dress rehearsals, and back to the Operations and Checkout Building following a shuttle landing.[1]
Shuttle-era Astrovan at Launch Pad 39A
According to driver Ronnie King, the early shuttle astronauts liked the history-filled vehicle, even if it was somewhat old, and even argued against upgrading the vehicle. "We were staged to get a new one," King said, and added that word came that the rookie astronauts wanted to keep the vehicle that was a tradition of the astronauts who traveled those nine miles to the pad before them.[1]
During the twenty-minute drive to the launch pad for shuttle launches, the Astrovan usually stopped at least once along the way. An astronaut rode with the crew and was let off near the Vehicle Assembly Building to board the Shuttle Training Aircraft and assess local weather conditions. Senior NASA managers occasionally rode along as well, and were dropped off at the Launch Control Center.[1]
An Itasca Suncruiser M-22RB was used to transport the STS-7 and STS-8 astronauts to the launch pad, as the size of shuttle crews had increased.
A modified 1983 Airstream Excella motorhome, popularly known as the Astrovan, was used from STS-9 through the final Space Shuttle mission (STS-135), and is also on display at the KSC Visitor Center.
On October 21, 2019, the Boeing Company and Airstream announced Astrovan II, a modified Airstream Atlas (with a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis) touring coach to carry Boeing commercial crew astronauts to the launch pad where they will board the CST-100 Starliner on their way to the International Space Station. Astrovan II has seating for up to eight (including the driver), and was built at Airstream's Jackson Center, Ohio production facility.
On April 13, 2022, NASA announced that Canoo Technologies Inc would build three new crew transportation vehicles designed to take the fully suited astronauts, their support team, and their equipment on the nine-mile stretch of road from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad for the Artemis program.[4]
In Russia and China cosmonauts and taikonauts have always relied on a bus to take them to the Launch Pad.
astronaut, transfer, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2020, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Astronaut transfer van news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message The astronaut transfer van known as the Astrovan during the Space Shuttle era was a NASA vehicle used at the Kennedy Space Center to transport astronauts from the Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad before a mission and for launch dress rehearsals and back to the Operations and Checkout Building following a shuttle landing 1 Shuttle era Astrovan at Launch Pad 39A According to driver Ronnie King the early shuttle astronauts liked the history filled vehicle even if it was somewhat old and even argued against upgrading the vehicle We were staged to get a new one King said and added that word came that the rookie astronauts wanted to keep the vehicle that was a tradition of the astronauts who traveled those nine miles to the pad before them 1 During the twenty minute drive to the launch pad for shuttle launches the Astrovan usually stopped at least once along the way An astronaut rode with the crew and was let off near the Vehicle Assembly Building to board the Shuttle Training Aircraft and assess local weather conditions Senior NASA managers occasionally rode along as well and were dropped off at the Launch Control Center 1 Contents 1 Similar vehicles 2 Gallery 3 See also 4 ReferencesSimilar vehicles editDuring Project Mercury a modified semi truck and trailer was used to transport astronauts to the launch pads LC 5 and LC 14 During Project Gemini a fleet of converted delivery vans were used to transport astronauts to the launch pad LC 19 A modified Clark Cortez motorhome was used to transport Apollo era crews to the launch pad beginning with Apollo 7 in 1967 and continuing through the Apollo Soyuz launch in 1975 This vehicle remained in use through STS 6 and is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex s Apollo Saturn V Center 1 2 An Itasca Suncruiser M 22RB was used to transport the STS 7 and STS 8 astronauts to the launch pad as the size of shuttle crews had increased A modified 1983 Airstream Excella motorhome popularly known as the Astrovan was used from STS 9 through the final Space Shuttle mission STS 135 and is also on display at the KSC Visitor Center On October 21 2019 the Boeing Company and Airstream announced Astrovan II a modified Airstream Atlas with a Mercedes Benz Sprinter chassis touring coach to carry Boeing commercial crew astronauts to the launch pad where they will board the CST 100 Starliner on their way to the International Space Station Astrovan II has seating for up to eight including the driver and was built at Airstream s Jackson Center Ohio production facility SpaceX does not use a van to transport astronauts for the SpaceX Dragon 2 missions instead using a set of specially made Tesla Model X cars 3 On April 13 2022 NASA announced that Canoo Technologies Inc would build three new crew transportation vehicles designed to take the fully suited astronauts their support team and their equipment on the nine mile stretch of road from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad for the Artemis program 4 In Russia and China cosmonauts and taikonauts have always relied on a bus to take them to the Launch Pad Gallery edit nbsp Mercury era transfer van nbsp Gemini era transfer van in the background nbsp Apollo era astronaut transfer van nbsp Shuttle era Astrovan nbsp Shuttle era Astrovan interiorSee also editSpace Shuttle Mobile quarantine facility NASA Crew Transport VehiclesReferences edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astronaut transfer vans a b c d Mansfield Cheryl L July 15 2008 Catching a Ride to Destiny NASA Retrieved July 13 2009 Grinter Kay August 6 2010 Crew Transport Evolves from Tractor Pull Spaceport News NASA Retrieved March 13 2018 Check out Tesla Model X that will transport NASA astronauts to SpaceX missions 13 May 2020 Artemis Astronauts Will Ride in Style in New Crew Transportation Vehicles NASA April 13 2022 Retrieved April 13 2022 nbsp This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration nbsp This space or spaceflight related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Astronaut transfer van amp oldid 1203491754, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
