Topic: Museum of Flight: Space shuttle trainer (FFT)
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-01-2012 01:55 AM
quote:Originally posted by p51: I can't help but wonder who will get to see the inside of it.
The museum has said in the past that it plans to tour the public in small groups through the cabin as part of a premium offering. The mockup does feature an aft viewing location that looks into the payload bay, which the museum said would be open to the public.
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 09-01-2012 02:18 AM
That's good to know because when the nose was brought in there, nobody I talked with at the museum thought anyone would get to go in there other than "special" groups (which to them, often means the highest donor types and nobody else).
Good to know that I'll have a chance to look in there for a little extra coin which I'd be more than willing to spend to just once see the inside of it!
Of course, Robert, if you'd be willing to allow me to represent the website and document the inside of the cockpit for this site, I'd be happy to for that for ya...
JSC01 Member
Posts: 84 From: Houston, Texas, USA Registered: Nov 2011
posted 09-01-2012 11:22 AM
After supporting Shuttle for many years, I once had the privilege to tour the inside of an orbiter. I was still shocked at the size and scale of the crew cabin space. It taught me that there is nothing more educational than actually seeing, feeling and experiencing with your own senses.
For that reason, these mockups/trainers that can be toured remain very important. I hope the museum prices the interior FFT tour within reach of those who really want that experience. Nothing compares.
Of course, everyone is still welcome to visit Houston where we'll have two (slightly different) interior Shuttle experiences. An exploded interior mockup within the SCH building, and soon the full size 'Explorer' mockup outside. Come see us sometime!
FullThrottle Member
Posts: 93 From: Seattle, WA, USA Registered: Sep 2010
posted 09-01-2012 11:58 AM
I was fortunate enough to climb inside of the FFT cockpit last month! I won the lottery on Guppy Flight #3 delivery day, and was offered 2 tickets and 20 minutes inside of the FFT. I called my father and he happened to be off work, he raced down to join me for an afternoon at the Museum of Flight. We were the 23rd and 24th "off the street civilian" that the Museum let inside, and the last street people allowed to tour the cockpit until its publicly opened. They told us we were the guinea pigs to assess how realistic interior tours are.
First, it was an amazing experience! I'd like to personally thank the MOF staff and curator for giving me the opportunity to climb around Seattle's Shuttle. As posted above, to get a feel for the actual size of a Shuttle mid-deck and cockpit is enlightening since on TV and KSC's shuttle mockup you walk through the cut open side/rear instead of pulling yourself through a hatch and having to climb around. It is TINY in the Shuttle's habitable space, I'm amazed 7-8 people could live in there for a week or more! The cockpit isn't tall enough for a 5ft. 7in. guy to stand in without bending down!
I'm positive they can't allow free access into the FFT cockpit... WAY too many hazards and all I could think of is lawsuit central and people getting hurt or damaging the FFT. When you climb into the cockpit from the mid-deck there are two giant holes on each side. One mis-step or a momentary lapse and you'd fall 8-10 feet and get hurt bad. In zero-G the floor holes and falling wouldn't be a problem, but here on Earth I can see alot of careless people getting injured, there's a huge liability there.
MOF said that people will be able to stroll through the payload bay front to back, but that cockpit access will be limited. From my personal experience and shooting from the hip guess, I'd imagine its going to be a private tour that you reserve ahead of time, in groups of no more than 4 people. Similar to the B-29 tour maybe where you pay a few extra bucks to climb around inside and get a tour guide.
Unfortunately there is no way on God's green Earth the MOF can let people wander in and out on their own, they will be escorted in tiny groups, since instructions on moving around inside of the Shuttle safely are critical to not getting hurt in there.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-25-2012 11:36 AM
The Museum of Flight release
Space Gallery Space Shuttle Trainer Opens Nov. 10
Saturday, November 10 | 11 a.m.
In November, The Museum of Flight will open a new exhibit in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery featuring spacecraft and artifacts of human space flight's past, present, and future showcasing the impressive full-scale Space Shuttle Trainer.
Tour the Trainer!
Used by the Space Shuttle crews for decades to train for every single mission, the NASA FFT (Full Fuselage Trainer) is now installed in its new home at The Museum of Flight. See this fascinating full-scale mock-up of the shuttle that was used to train hundreds of astronauts over the 30-year NASA shuttle program.
The Future of Space Exploration
The advent of commercial space flight and artifacts like the Blue Origin Charon Test Vehicle Illustrate the new technologies being developed to help continue advancements and achievements in space exploration.
Come see it in November!
The Museum of Flight is the permanent home to NASA’s Space Shuttle Trainer, the world’s only example of this full-scale shuttle training facility. The Museum opens this world-class exhibit with a ceremony at 11 a.m., with music and family activities in the Space Gallery and throughout the Museum. Visitors will be among the first to step inside the shuttle’s expansive fuselage and see the new spaceflight artifacts populating the towering Charles Simonyi Space Gallery.
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 10-25-2012 03:11 PM
If you're on a higher level of membership, you can go down and see it much earlier than that. They're letting the upper level members see it from 3-4 November, and lower level members can see it from 5-9 November.
I was at the museum's annual book sale recently and I asked around, and was advised they will indeed be letting small groups with a guide through the cockpit. I couldn't get any idea of how much it'd cost or when it'd happen, but it was a good sign to hear that!
People in the area who were originally soured on not getting a flown orbiter are feeling much better now about getting the trainer after all because it's going to be so much more hands on than a flown orbiter ever could be...
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-25-2012 05:06 PM
The Museum of Flight has graciously arranged a special media preview for collectSPACE with the senior curator and the exhibit developer, as well as separate commentary being provided by several of the well-known personalities who have connections to the gallery.
Our article and photo gallery will run in conjunction with the opening so those who cannot make it to Seattle will still be able to get a good look at the exhibit.
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 11-06-2012 12:25 PM
The FFT opened to the higher-paying members this past weekend. Any news or photos from that? I searched online and found nothing. I'll be in Seattle on Sunday but I'm not 100% sure I'll have the time to see the FFT on that day due to a full schedule.
Still haven't heard anything in regard to guided tours of the interior crew area. File that under the, "I don't care how much I gotta pay" heading...
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 11-06-2012 12:45 PM
I toured the Full Fuselage Trainer display with its curators on Monday. They've done a remarkable job with it, enhancing the access that was available when it was in use at Johnson Space Center, while preserving most of the original structure.
A full preview, with photos, will be published on collectSPACE on Friday (Nov. 9).
Only a handful of visitors have been allowed into the crew cabin thus far, mostly as trial runs to learn what works and what does not work. The details for how greater access will be provided are still being worked out, though the museum's education department is planning to include it as part of a larger program they will run.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
It is not every day you get to stand inside the payload bay of a space shuttle, but that is the experience now awaiting visitors at The Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Beginning Saturday (Nov. 10), guests to the Washington state museum's Charles Simonyi Space Gallery will come nose-to-nose with the Full Fuselage Trainer (FFT), a full size shuttle mockup that was in use for three decades by the more than 350 astronauts who flew on the now retired orbiters.
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 11-11-2012 08:46 PM
Great write-up as always.
I was there today and they were letting visitors draw from a box of slips for random chances to tour the crew compartment, I guess to judge how long it'll take (neither my wife nor I got one, sadly). They were also taking reservations of tours on weekends and special events. Prices went from 20-25 to 25-30 each, depending on membership and age. I've already signed up for next Saturday to do this...
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 11-17-2012 08:46 PM
My wife and I toured the full shuttle trainer on Saturday, the very first day anyone could do so normally. They just started doing tours you need to buy a ticket for well in advance. I wasn't going to miss my shot at seeing that! My wife came along because she thought it'd be cool too...
We were shown the mid deck and the WCS then taken to the flight deck. The interior is well used, let's just say, just I thought it'd be. It being the first weekend, they gave away a nice bag of swag to the people who'd signed up for the first tours (they were specific to say they won't be repeating this in the future), including some 'astronaut ice cream' and a certificate stating you'd toured it. Great thing I brought my wife along and she didn't want any of it (other than the pin they gave her, I opted for the patch of the same design).
OUTSIDE AND CARGO BAY AREA (this is what the public gets to see any time they walk in to the building):
To the hatch (note the drag marks where crews practiced roping out of the top hatches):
GETTING INSIDE (you can only do this on weekends with a special ticket bought well in advance):
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 11-19-2012 11:08 AM
Mid deck lockers, still with added velcro and signs from previous crews:
I didn't realize the waste disposal was right next to the main hatch...
Entry to the ISS airlock collar:
My favorite part (I was surprised how little room there is in here, it's more crowded than a airliner's flight deck:
Canada arm and other controls, some of the few areas that are plexiglassed over:
And me, gloating...
JSC01 Member
Posts: 84 From: Houston, Texas, USA Registered: Nov 2011
posted 11-21-2012 11:31 AM
These are great shots. It looks like the MOF did an excellent job with the display and access. My only minor comment would be the color of the engine bells appears to be off... I like that upper stage hanging over the bay almost like the crew just deployed a probe.
Nice jacket, by the way!
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 11-21-2012 12:32 PM
quote:Originally posted by JSC01: My only minor comment would be the color of the engine bells appears to be off...
I guess you can blame JSC for that. That's how it came from Houston, and the museum is keeping it as an artifact, but I agree that the color of the bells is of course way off, makes you wonder why they bothered making them as there's no way to see them from the inside of the trainer anyway).
quote:Originally posted by JSC01: Nice jacket, by the way!
Thanks! I seriously considered wearing my CWU/73P blue NASA nomex flight suit during the tour but my wife vetoed that quickly and loudly before we left the house. "You're not at space camp anymore," she said.
I've considered volunteering as a tour guide for the FFT, but it requires a year-long commitment of 2 days per month. I live about 100 miles away from Seattle and my job allows for VERY little time off. Still, it would be great to get to show people around the inside of this!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-14-2013 03:29 PM
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden will tour the Space Shuttle Trainer Crew Compartment in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Seattle Museum of Flight on Tuesday, Jan.15.
p51 Member
Posts: 1642 From: Olympia, WA Registered: Sep 2011
posted 01-14-2013 04:49 PM
Dang, I can't get the day off, would love to meet him...
I also put in an application to be a tour guide for the FFT, but my job won't allow me to commit to any specific day off in advance (we've been working mandatory overtime for going on three years straight and most of the time two years before that, with no end in sight). I'm very bummed that I won't be able to guide tours through there.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-15-2013 10:14 PM
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden boards the Space Shuttle Trainer Crew Compartment in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery while on a tour at the Museum of Flight on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. With Bolden were museum CEO and president Doug King and former NASA astronaut John Creighton. Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 02-05-2013 12:14 PM
Here is the trailer for Francis Zera's film about the delivery of the Full Fuselage Trainer to Seattle:
joe bruce Member
Posts: 129 From: Spokane, WA U.S.A. Registered: Nov 2004
posted 02-25-2013 10:22 PM
This is a photo taken February 16, 2013 on the flight deck of the shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer at the Museum Of Flight in Seattle.
posted 09-01-2012 01:55 AM
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