Revenki's photos with the keyword: MLP

Mobile Launch Platform

10 Aug 2009 147
I think this is MLP-3, which should be getting moved into the VAB in the next few weeks to begin stack operations for Atlantis' next flight. The MLP is parked in the maintenance area behind the VAB and OPFs, next to the brand new MLP being constructed for Constellation's Ares-I rocket. The two mailbox-like bumps on the top are the tail service masts, through which the propellant lines and various electrical connections are mated to the back end of the Orbiter until takeoff. Each contains a large plate loaded with fluid and electrical quick disconnects, which at liftoff is released from the Orbiter and retracted into the mast at high velocity and with great force, at which point a heavy door slams shut behind the plate to protect it from the Shuttle's plume. It's not apparent from this picture just how large the masts are, or how big the plates are, or just how impressive that operation really is. IIRC, the building in the background on the right is the Saturn V Center.

Ares-I MLP

10 Aug 2009 153
The brand-new mobile launch platform being built for the (probably doomed) Ares-I launch vehicle, which the Constellation program will use to send the Orion spacecraft into orbit (assuming Ares doesn't get cancelled). Note the truss segments to the left - these are parts of the launch umbilical tower which will be built atop the platform. Like Apollo and unilike Shuttle, Ares-I will carry its service tower on the launch platform with it, instead of it being built into the pad. Behind the truss segments to the left are the tail service masts from a Shuttle MLP.