Pathfinder
The Pathfinder is a 75 ton Orbiter simulator that was created
to work out the procedures for moving and handling the shuttle. It
was a steel structure roughly the size, weight and shape of an
orbiter. It was constructed at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
in 1977 and was used as a stand in for Enterprise to test roads and cranes. Pathfinder was shipped by barge to KSC and was used for ground
crew testing in the VAB , OPF and SLF. It was then returned to MSFC.
Pathfinder sat in storage for many years until a group of Japanese
businessmen offered to spend $1,000,000 to modify the vehicle to more
closely resemble a real orbiter. They used it at the "Great Space Shuttle
Exposition in Tokyo, Japan. After the expo, it was returned to MSFC and
now is on permanent display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in
Huntsville Alabama. It is on a specal platform and mounted to the Main
Propulsion Test Article (MPTA) External Tank used for early tanking tests.
Return to KSC Science Home Page 
Other Orbiter Vehicles
Last Updated Wednesday June 07 14:28:06 EDT 1995
Jim Dumoulin (Redacted)
