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Mate-Demate Device
The Mate-Demate Device was a specialized gantry crane designed to lift a Space Shuttle orbiter onto and off the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). Two Mate-Demate Devices were built, one at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, the other at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A third Orbiter Lifting Fixture was to serve a similar function at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, the proposed West Coast launch location for the Shuttle. It was later moved to Palmdale to support the plant where the Shuttle was built and refurbished. A portable sling was also built to support mate-demate operations away from the primary locations.
The first Mate-Demate Device was built at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California, and completed in late 1976. It was first used with the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise during the five Approach and Landing Tests in 1977.
While the Shuttle Landing Facility airport at Kennedy Space Center in Florida served as the primary landing site for orbiters, the longer runways at Edwards were used for 11 of the first 12 missions and remained the primary backup site throughout the Shuttle program, being used on a total of 54 out of 135 missions (40%). This MDD was used to hoist orbiters onto the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for transport back to Florida.
The MDD in California consisted of two 100-foot (30 m) towers with stationary work platforms every 20 feet (6.1 m) up to the 80-foot (24 m) level. A horizontal structure was mounted at the 80-foot (24 m) level between the two towers. The horizontal unit cantilevers out 70 feet (21 m) from the main tower units. It controlled and guided a large lift beam that attached to the orbiters to raise and lower them.
Three large hoists were then used simultaneously to raise and lower the lift beam. Two of the hoists are connected to the portion of the lift beam that attaches to the rear of the orbiter, and one is attached to the portion of the beam that attaches to the front. Each hoist had a 100,000-pound (45,000 kg) lift capability. Operating together, the total lifting capacity of the three units is 240,000 pounds (110,000 kg). Two access platforms for servicing specialists could descend from the cantilevered section to the sides of the orbiter.
Connell Associates of Coral Gables, Florida, designed the MDD, which was constructed in 1976 by the George A. Fuller Company of Chicago, Illinois, for US$1,700,000 (equivalent to $9,618,421 in 2025). The MDD was dismantled in 2014 by Pantano Demolition of Manteca, California, at a cost of US$178,000 (equivalent to $242,079 in 2025).
A similar but slightly less complex Mate-Demate Device was located at the Shuttle Landing Facility airport at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The MDD was located just off the southeast end of the runway. Its primary use was unloading the orbiter after its cross-country flight from Edwards.
Like its sibling in California, the MDD in Florida consisted of two 100-foot (30 m) towers equipped with hoists, adapters and movable platforms for access to certain orbiter components and equipment. The KSC MDD's hoists had a total lifting capacity of 230,000 pounds (100,000 kg), slightly less than the California version.
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Mate-Demate Device
The Mate-Demate Device was a specialized gantry crane designed to lift a Space Shuttle orbiter onto and off the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). Two Mate-Demate Devices were built, one at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, the other at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A third Orbiter Lifting Fixture was to serve a similar function at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, the proposed West Coast launch location for the Shuttle. It was later moved to Palmdale to support the plant where the Shuttle was built and refurbished. A portable sling was also built to support mate-demate operations away from the primary locations.
The first Mate-Demate Device was built at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California, and completed in late 1976. It was first used with the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise during the five Approach and Landing Tests in 1977.
While the Shuttle Landing Facility airport at Kennedy Space Center in Florida served as the primary landing site for orbiters, the longer runways at Edwards were used for 11 of the first 12 missions and remained the primary backup site throughout the Shuttle program, being used on a total of 54 out of 135 missions (40%). This MDD was used to hoist orbiters onto the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for transport back to Florida.
The MDD in California consisted of two 100-foot (30 m) towers with stationary work platforms every 20 feet (6.1 m) up to the 80-foot (24 m) level. A horizontal structure was mounted at the 80-foot (24 m) level between the two towers. The horizontal unit cantilevers out 70 feet (21 m) from the main tower units. It controlled and guided a large lift beam that attached to the orbiters to raise and lower them.
Three large hoists were then used simultaneously to raise and lower the lift beam. Two of the hoists are connected to the portion of the lift beam that attaches to the rear of the orbiter, and one is attached to the portion of the beam that attaches to the front. Each hoist had a 100,000-pound (45,000 kg) lift capability. Operating together, the total lifting capacity of the three units is 240,000 pounds (110,000 kg). Two access platforms for servicing specialists could descend from the cantilevered section to the sides of the orbiter.
Connell Associates of Coral Gables, Florida, designed the MDD, which was constructed in 1976 by the George A. Fuller Company of Chicago, Illinois, for US$1,700,000 (equivalent to $9,618,421 in 2025). The MDD was dismantled in 2014 by Pantano Demolition of Manteca, California, at a cost of US$178,000 (equivalent to $242,079 in 2025).
A similar but slightly less complex Mate-Demate Device was located at the Shuttle Landing Facility airport at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The MDD was located just off the southeast end of the runway. Its primary use was unloading the orbiter after its cross-country flight from Edwards.
Like its sibling in California, the MDD in Florida consisted of two 100-foot (30 m) towers equipped with hoists, adapters and movable platforms for access to certain orbiter components and equipment. The KSC MDD's hoists had a total lifting capacity of 230,000 pounds (100,000 kg), slightly less than the California version.