THE PATHFINDER SHUTTLE SIMULATOR

Prior to Enterprise's arival at Kennedy Space Center in 1979, a 75 ton Orbiter simulator had been used to practice lifting and handling the Orbiter. This simulator was a steel structure roughly resembling the shape of an orbiter, and was more or less dimensionally correct. Dubbed Pathfinder, it was originally constructed at Marshall Space Flight Center in 1977 as a stand-in for Enterprise to fit-check the roads and facilities at MSFC that were used during the Mated Vertical Ground Vibration Tests, as well as the hoisting system that was used to lift Enterprise into the test facility.

In mid-1978, the Pathfinder mock-up was shipped by ocean barge to KSC where it was used to fit-check the mate/demate device, the OPF and the VAB work platforms, and for ground crew training.

The Pathfinder inside the VAB for fit-checks.

In early 1979, Pathfinder was used to rehearse post-landing procedures at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) allowing convoy operations to be simulated with some accuracy. Later during 1979 Pathfinder was returned to MSFC.

The Pathfinder on the runway of the SLF.

After several years in storage, a group of Japanese businessmen expressed an interst in obtaining a full size Orbiter model for display during the "Great Space Shuttle Exposition" The Japanese readily agreed to provide almost $1.000.000 to modify Pathfinder so the ungainly Orbiter simulator would look more like an real Shuttle. Following display in Tokyo, Pathfinder was returned to MSFC for permanent display at the Alabama Space and Rocket Center near Huntsville. It is mounted on a special platform, mated to the external tank (MPTA-ET) used during the main propulsion test, and a pair of inert solid rocket boosters. These SRB's are assembled from composite casings produced during the abortive attempt to built filament-wound motor casings for Vandenberg, as well as various engineering and structural tests pieces, such as nose segments and aft skirts.

Pathfinder at the Alabama Space and Rocket Center.

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