Space Shuttle Countdown: Landing to Launch

Part 4: The Vehicle Assembly Building The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is one of the largest buildings in the world. It was originally built for assembly of Apollo/Saturn vehicles and was later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. In this huge complex, the orbiter is checked thoroughly, placed on the Mobile Launcher Platform and then mated to the two solid rocket boosters and the external tank. Together this stack will be carried to the pad aboard the crawler-transporter. The orbiter enters the VAB horizonally on a transporter. It is lifted off the transporter to raise it to a vertical position. When ready the fully assembled shuttle stack and leaves vertically, ready for launch! Join Mike Ciannilli as he takes you inside the VAB and gives you a little of the sense of the enormity of everything inside as he gets up close to a stack that is waiting for the orbiter to arrive. Mike will describe to you the VAB's interior bays and then will actually climb to the top of the huge External Tank. He will explain and show you the process of lifting the orbiter into position in preparation for February's segment: The long trip to the Launching Pad.

WebCast uses RealMedia	See: Landing, a new beginning

December Programming

Event type	Date	Grade level	Time	Technology Required	Subject
	Wednesday, Dec. 8	First hour: All ages Last 30 minutes for University level questions	10-11:30am PST 1-2:30pm EST 6-7:30pm GMT	Watch Part 4	Vehicle Assembly Building Mike and Brandt Return to the Vehicle Assembly Building to give you a virtual tour of the inside of this huge building.
	Wednesday, Dec. 15	K-12	10-11am PST 1-2pm EST 6-7pm GMT	Archive	Michael Ciannilli monitors all of the systems on the orbiter as they are tested, and addresses any problems that occur at that time. During vehicle testing, Mike watches for any problems with the vehicles and resolves them. He also supports a wide variety of shuttle upgrades and the next generation of launch vehicle studies.
None	W i n t e r   b r e a k

"What is an Internet Workshop?"

As you prepare your students to attend the December segment of the Launch to Landing series, we would like to suggest some very simple activities that will help them make the most of this online experience! We encourage you to review the following three options and determine which may be appropriate for your classroom:

Step 1:Assign one of the following suggested activities to be completed during the week.
Getting to know the VAB:
• List three things that happen in the VAB.
• Name three aspects of the External Tank.

Shuttle Facts:

• Which Shuttle (if any) is now in the VAB. Use the Shuttle Status reports for December.
  Find out: When did that orbiter fly its last mission and when it will fly its next mission?
• Read Vehicle Manager, Jenny Lyons' biography: What is the definition of an integrated space shuttle?
• Read the archive of the chat with Mechanical Systems Engineer, Jim Draus: How long it takes to prepare a shuttle for launch?

Fun Facts:

• When they repainted the VAB, how did they apply the paint and why?
• How large is a single red stripe of the American flag painted on the VAB?
• What can you find Mike Ciannilli doing when the sun is out?

Step 2: During the Internet Workshop, ask students to share their work and to formulate question that will be presented during the live event.

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Option B - An Internet Workshop Project:
This type of Internet use brings the class together in teams to do a project.

Step 1: Begin a timeline of ISS activities. Assign students to work in groups to investigate and report:

• How old is the VAB?
• What was its original purpose?
• What changes have been made to the VAB and when?
• When did the space shuttle program begin?
• List the space shuttle missions for 1999.
Listed below are NASA Web sites that may be used as a reference:
• Overview of the Vehicle Assembly Building
• Facts about the Vehicle Assembly Building
• STO Photo Gallary
• STO Journals
• Space Shuttle Program Chronology
• Map of the Vehicle Assembly Building

Step 2: Attend the event allowing your students to compose questions and incorporate what they learn into the project's outcome. Use the Internet Workshop as a forum for working on the project and filling in the timeline once they have attended the live event.

Step 1: Students are provided with the following framework and encouraged to direct their own learning about the VAB and Shuttle assembly.

• Question: Students identify an important question they wish to explore.
  • Engage in group or individual brainstorming during Internet Workshop.
  • Guide their initial research by helping them identify related topics and information.
• Search: Students use the Internet to find useful information related to their topic.
  • Use the Internet Workshop to demonstrate Internet search techniques.
  • Remind students of more traditional resources found in the classroom or school library.
• Analyze: Students analyze all of the information they have located and respond to the questions they initially posed.
  • Sometimes this will lead students to address another question they discover to be more important than their initial question.
• Compose: This phase requires students to compose a presentation of their work. This may take the form of a traditional written report, a poster session, a multimedia presentation, a web site, or an oral report.
  
• Share: Students share their work and respond to questions about that work. This may take place during the Internet workshop or during a special science or social studies fair.

• Some suggested links and activities to help students get started:
  • Space Team Online Home Page
  • NASA Quest Live Events Schedule
  • NASA Home Page
  • Kennedy Space Center Homepage

Step 2: Students then use the live interactive event to test their theories and promote their ideas. These findings and student strategies are reported during the Internet Workshop.