Space Shuttle Launch Pad

This is where the space shuttle was launched from. They actually let us go inside the pad, but we had to stay in the small tour bus. (seats 20) Most of the tour buses have to stay outside of the gate. There are large white circular tanks of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The hill has a slope of only 5 degrees, even though it looks very steep. When the crawler goes up the hill to deliver the shuttle, the back end raises up 5 feet to prevent the shuttle from tipping over, so the shuttle actually stays level with the ground. The astronauts go up the elevator and enter the shuttle at the white box. On the left, is a system that completely covers the shuttle and protects it from rain and the elements while it is waiting on the launch pad. The system actually creates a clean room environment, so payloads can be added while the shuttle is on the pad. It's hard to see but there are 5 wires coming down. This is the emergency exit. If the shuttle is going to blow up, the astronauts don't have to wait for the elevator. There are baskets they can ride down on the wires.