Credit: NASA
Service Structures
During the Apollo program, NASA used mobile support structures and launch umbilical towers to service the Saturn V rockets on Pad 39A. For the space shuttle, the complex gained two permanent gantries: a 12-floor fixed service structure, equipped with three swing arms that gave workers access to the shuttle on the pad, and the rotating service structure that could be swung around to envelop the orbiter, providing access to the vehicle’s payload bay. In this photo, the space shuttle Columbia arrives at Pad 39A on Dec. 29, 1980 in preparation for the first space shuttle launch.
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