NASA News Release 98-082
June 10, 1998
WEB CAMERAS PROVIDE UP-TO-THE-MINUTE LOOK AT X-33 VEHICLE ASSEMBLY, LAUNCH SITE
CONSTRUCTION
Three Internet-linked cameras in California now provide Web browsers up-to-the-minute
snapshots on construction of NASA's prototype for future space launch vehicles and
work at its launch site.
The NASA X-33 Program has placed two digital cameras high above the X-33 assembly
floor in Palmdale, Calif., and one camera looking out over the launch site at Edwards
Air Force Base, Calif. The images captured by the cameras are featured on the Internet
at NASA's X-33 Website.
New images of the vehicle's construction are captured every 15 minutes and posted
to the X-33 Website the following day. Camera A's focus is on the vehicle's primary
assembly structure. On the left side of the image sits the X-33's 26-foot-long liquid
oxygen tank cradled in a series of composite beams. The tank forms the forward third
of the vehicle. The black vertical surface on the right is the vehicle's aft assembly
structure, where the two linear aerospike engines will be mounted. The X-33 will
take shape at this location on the assembly floor, and is scheduled to roll out from
this spot in May 1999.
The image from Camera B shows side-by-side tooling structures for, in the foreground,
the X-33's upper thermal protection system, and in the center, the vehicle's upper
internal support structure.
Images of construction of the launch site also are captured every 15 minutes
and are posted to the Web weekly. The camera's focus is centered on the location
for the vehicle's launch pad. The left side of the image currently shows construction
of the launch site's 250,000 gallon water tower on the west side of the 25-acre facility.
A deluge stream of water will be used for cooling and sound suppression at launch.
