New ground fittings for Space Shuttle payload handling were designed, built, and tested by Government and contractor personnel at the NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, from May 1981 through November 1982. Design evolution of the Space Shuttle Orbiter payload retention fittings, which contained a load-sensitive split bushing in a pillow-block housing, created an incompatibility between the interfacing ground and airborne equipment. New fittings were designed and successfully used beginning with the fifth Space Shuttle flight, STS-5. An active hydraulic spring system containing a gas accumulator in the hydraulic system provided the load relief required to protect the Orbiter bushing from damage.
Payload retention fittings for space shuttle payload ground handling mechanism
1983-05-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Payload handling for the Space Shuttle
AIAA | 1971
|The Space Shuttle orbiter payload retention systems
NTRS | 1982
|Space Shuttle payload handling on the launch pad
NTRS | 1979
|A concept for Space Shuttle payload ground operations
NTRS | 1973
|A concept for Space Shuttle payload ground operations
AIAA | 1973
|