Space Station Processing Facility
Encyclopedia
The Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) is a three-story, 42,500 m2 (457,000 square foot) building
located in the Kennedy Space Center
industrial area, just east of the Operations and Checkout Building
.
It was built for the processing of International Space Station
flight hardware.
The SSPF includes two processing bays, an airlock, operational control rooms, laboratories, logistics areas, office space, and a cafeteria.
The processing areas, airlock, and laboratories were designed to support non-hazardous Station and Space Shuttle
payloads in 100,000 class clean work areas.
When the lights in the building are on, most of these components can be seen on the live webcam from the facility.
located in the Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
industrial area, just east of the Operations and Checkout Building
Operations and Checkout Building
The Operations and Checkout Building is a historic site on Merritt Island, Florida, United States. The five-story structure is in the Industrial Area of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Its facilities include the crew quarters for astronauts prior to their flights. On January 21, 2000, it was added to...
.
It was built for the processing of International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
flight hardware.
The SSPF includes two processing bays, an airlock, operational control rooms, laboratories, logistics areas, office space, and a cafeteria.
The processing areas, airlock, and laboratories were designed to support non-hazardous Station and Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
payloads in 100,000 class clean work areas.
Station components currently in the SSPF
:- Multi-Purpose Logistics ModuleMulti-Purpose Logistics ModuleA Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is a large pressurized container used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station . An MPLM was carried in the cargo bay of a Shuttle and berthed to the Unity or Harmony modules on the ISS. From there, supplies were...
s Raffaello and Donatello. - Two Lightweight Multi-Purpose Equipment Support Structure Carriers (LMCs).
- Node 1 Structural Test Article (STA) - to become Node 4/Docking Hub System (DHS)Node 4Node 4, also known as the Docking Hub System , is a proposed module of the International Space Station . NASA is considering a 40-month design and development effort for Node 4 that would result in its launch in late 2013....
.
When the lights in the building are on, most of these components can be seen on the live webcam from the facility.