Pathfinder
Orbiter Vehicle Designation:	OV-098
Country:	United States
Time spent in space:	Not a space vehicle
Status:	On display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Space Shuttle Orbiter Pathfinder (honorary Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-098) is a Space Shuttle simulator made of steel and wood. Originally unnamed, the simulator was built at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1977 for use in activities such as checking roadway clearances, crane capabilities and fits within structures. It was later shipped by barge to the Kennedy Space Center and was used for ground crew testing in the Vehicle Assembly Building, Orbiter Processing Facility, and Shuttle Landing Facility. Pathfinder is nearly the same size, shape and weight of an actual Orbiter. The use of Pathfinder allowed facilities to be tested without requiring the use of the more delicate and expensive Enterprise. Image File history File linksMetadata Shuttle-pathfinder. ... Each NASA space shuttle designation is composed of a prefix and suffix seperated by a dash. ... Some of the rockets in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. ... Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County, Alabama. ... Each NASA space shuttle designation is composed of a prefix and suffix seperated by a dash. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... The old steel cable of a colliery winding tower Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Aerial view of the test area at Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is a lead NASA center for propulsion, Space Shuttle propulsion, external fuel tank, crew training and payloads, International Space Station (ISS) design and construction, for computers, networks, and information management. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Merritt Island and Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) at Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. ... The vast Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center (2005). ... An orbiter at the entrance of the Orbiter Processing Facility The Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) is the hangar where NASAs Space Shuttle Orbiters undergo maintenance between flights, and where the vehicles payloads are loaded and unloaded. ... Space Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) is a location where the Space Shuttle can land. ... The Space Shuttle Enterprise (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle built for NASA. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield and was therefore not capable of space operations; her purpose was to perform test flights in the atmosphere. ...

The Space Shuttle Orbiter simulator is hoisted into the giant dynamics test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.

After sitting in storage for many years, a Japanese organization funded the refurbishment of the steel mock-up to more closely resemble an actual Space Shuttle and named it Pathfinder. It was displayed at the "Great Space Shuttle Exposition" in Tokyo from June 1983 to August 1984. Pathfinder has since been returned to the U.S. and is presently on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (904x1140, 216 KB) Description Date: 01. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (904x1140, 216 KB) Description Date: 01. ... Tokyo , literally eastern capital) is the capital of Japan and one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... Some of the rockets in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. ... Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County, Alabama. ...

It is displayed as part of a complete Shuttle stack, mounted on the MPTA-ET external tank which was used for propulsion tests with MPTA-098, and with two prototype Advanced Solid Rocket Booster casings, developed after the Challenger accident, but were never put into production. The Main Propulsion Test Article ET was built by NASA to be used in conjuction with MPTA-098 for structural tests of the Space Shuttle prior to construction of flyable craft. ... The Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) on its way to the Vehicle Assembly Building. ... Main Propulsion Test Article being lifted onto its test stand in 1977. ... The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) is the rocket that provides 83% of liftoff thrust for the Space Shuttle. ... Space Shuttle Challenger (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was NASAs second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, after Columbia. ... The launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission 51L/STS-33, the 25th of the STS (Space Transportation System) program, began at an estimated time of 16:38:00. ...

Shuttle Mockup Pathfinder

Pathfinder is noticeably shorter than actual shuttle orbiters. Compare where the forward section blends with the wings, and attaches to the external tank. Image File history File links Space Shuttle Pathfinder in the Alabama Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama. ... Image File history File links Space Shuttle Pathfinder in the Alabama Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama. ...

In 1999, NASA removed the forward assemblies from each SRB attached to the Pathfinder stack. Although the SRBs are recovered and reused after each flight, several of the forward assemblies had been damaged or lost over the history of the Space Shuttle program necessitating the aquisition of those attached to the Pathfinder stack as spares.^[1] NASA logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... This article is about the NASA Space Shuttle program. ...

Notes

1. ^ "NASA recalls museum's shuttle parts / Forward assemblies are needed for use in program's plans", Houston Chronicle, 1999-02-15, pp. A11.

1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

External links

• Orbiter Vehicles
• Shuttle Test Article Pathfinder

v·d·e  Space Shuttles
	US Space Shuttle program Enterprise (atmospheric tests) Pathfinder (ground facilities tests) Columbia (destroyed 2003) Challenger (destroyed 1986) Discovery (active) Atlantis (active) - Currently in orbit Endeavour (active)	Soviet Shuttle Buran program OK-GLI (BST-02) (aerotester) Buran (retired, destroyed 2002) Ptichka (95–97% completed, unused) 2.01 (incomplete) 2.02 (partially dismantled) 2.03 (dismantled)