LiveChat Round Up 12/6/12

By Jim Gerard, NASA INSPIRE Specialist, KSC, FL

Are you tired of seeing me do the LiveChat? Our goal is to use the LiveChat to connect the OLC to NASA personnel. We try to schedule our subject matter experts weeks and months in advance, but when schedules change I will step in to provide the chat. Yes, it is something I really enjoy doing, and from your comments, it seems you enjoy them, but we strive to bring in the leaders of the field to share with you. With that in mind, I again stepped in to talk about Ground Processing at Kennedy Space Center.

In a nutshell, our job at KSC is to assemble and launch rockets. Specifically, crewed rockets. This art of coordinating the various pieces and erecting them into a safe, functional booster is called Ground Processing. Every rocket, from the first Explorer to the final space shuttle underwent some ground processing. There are logistics involved, plus re-purposing of resources and lots of ingenuity. But once in place, an 'assembly-line' can lead to safer and faster launches. In this chat, I discuss all that is involved with getting a crewed vehicle up in space.

Next week, my good friend Steve Cullivan from Stennis Space Center will further discuss engine testing and other rocket technogies at Stennis. And the next week, get ready for our annual INSPIRE Holiday LiveChat, a virtual party you will not want to miss! See you then!

Discuss this blog here: http://tinyurl.com/bloginspire12