"We were putting the crew module inside the vehicle one day," Hoffman said. The shuttle also featured improved computers and power systems.ĭuring Endeavour's construction phase, Hoffman recalled a particularly memorable moment when Mother Nature unexpectedly played a part in properly aligning a critical part of the orbiter. We were also upgrading the thermal protection systems, so when we built Endeavour, and as the fleet progressed, we were able to eliminate a lot of tiles on the upper portion."Įndeavour was the first shuttle equipped with a 40-foot-diameter drag chute that reduced the orbiter's rollout distance by 1,000 to 2,000 feet during landing. "For anyone who follows orbiters closely, I think the most striking thing that you would see on Endeavour happened to be the drag chute - it made the tail end, the vertical area, look a little different there. "They were similar, but they were all unique in their own ways," Hoffman said. Still, there are some very subtle characteristics that set Endeavour apart from the rest. Other than the obligatory design and hardware upgrades, the shuttles were intended to be mostly uniform to facilitate the astronaut training process. (Image credit: Boeing)īut despite being the last one in the production line, there are very few differences between Endeavour and the rest of the fleet, Hoffman said. The vertical tail is being delivered from Fairchild (New York) to the Rockwell Palmdale facility on September 18, 1987. "These structural spares saved us probably two years in the manufacture of the orbiter." "When Challenger was lost, and we were authorized to go ahead and build another orbiter, those pieces already existed," said Dwight Woolhouse, who began working in the shuttle program in 1972, and worked closely with Lang in quality assurance during the construction of Endeavour. The orbiter was built using structural spare parts from the construction of Discovery and Atlantis. "We had so many lessons behind us that when it came to work on Endeavour, it was a faster process."Įndeavour also benefitted from its siblings in more than just a conceptual sense. "It was just an easier build for us," Lang told. It was very emotional."Īs the newest of NASA's shuttles, the engineers who built Endeavour benefitted from the extensive knowledge they had gained from the legacies of Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis. We had a huge screen set up and we were all standing around watching the launch. "I remember standing in the hangar bay when STS-49 launched – its first mission back in 1992. "I do have an affinity for Endeavour, since it was my first vehicle," Hoffman said. Since Hoffman joined Rockwell just prior to Endeavour's construction, the baby of the fleet holds a special place in his heart. It's an amazing sense of accomplishment." "I look back on it, and it was the best part of my career. "It was honestly the best team I've ever been associated with," said Bill Lang, who was the director of quality during the construction of Endeavour. (Image credit: Boeing)įor Hoffman, and so many of his colleagues, being a part of the space shuttle program was more than just a job: it was a distinction they were proud to be a part of, and the workers banded together like a family. The crew module initial build continues in Bldg 290 high bay at the Rockwell Downey facility on July 18, 1986. After spending all those years, I could absolutely relate." I thought about the time I spent on the program since then. Then, 17 years after the Challenger accident, early in the morning on the anniversary, I woke up thinking about it. "I saw how everybody was devastated, but at the time, I could not fully realize the impact of the devastation. "My second day with Rockwell was the day we lost Challenger," Hoffman said. Even though Endeavour, the youngest of NASA's fleet, was the first vehicle he worked on, Hoffman was quickly inducted into a close-knit group of shuttle workers who were tied together through triumph and tragedy. Hoffman and his team were involved in everything from the installation of mechanical and electrical units to the interior and exterior thermal protection systems on the shuttles. In the late 1980s, Hoffman became the director of assembly and test operations for the space shuttle program at Rockwell International, the company contracted by NASA to design and manufacture the orbiters.
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