NASA Giving Away Space History? Agency Puts Massive Launch Platforms On Sale
If you’ve ever dreamed of launching your own rocket into space, NASA has just the treat for you: The U.S. space agency is selling the three mobile launch platforms, or MLPs, that were vital to a couple of space programs, Wired reported.
Built in 1967, each of the 4,115-ton MLPs was designed for the Apollo/Saturn space program. Each is 25 feet tall and measures 160 by 135 feet. They were modified for the space-shuttle program in the 1970s.
Even if you do have the funds to snatch up one or all of the MLPs, your visions of cosmic exploration could still be dashed by the terms of sale for the gigantic structures. NASA is selling each platform without the 5,500-horsepower transporter that moves it along a track at 1 mph. Thus, each buyer of an MLP will be required to have it first fully deconstructed and then pieced back together at its new home with no help from the space agency.
“NASA would not move [the MLPs] for them,” NASA public-affairs officer Tracy Young told Wired. “People should have a way of dismantling them.”
Oh, and, by the way, all the equipment needed to actually launch a rocket has been removed from the MLPs as well. This includes the emergency-warning beacons, fire-suppression systems, monitoring systems, water lines and the integrated network control systems.
However, there a few incentives for anyone seeking to snag one of the MLPs, according to NASA documents. Each comes with hydraulic ventilation, a few electronics and even a “bathroom with two sinks, two toilets, two urinals and one drain (water supply turned off).”
NASA has issued a request for information about this unique business opportunity from individuals or groups interested in acquiring the MLPs. The space agency will be accepting comments until Sept. 6. “We’re looking for a synopsis of the traditional and non-traditional uses [of the MLPs],” Young told Wired.
Watch here an MLP being rolled along a track with the help of one of the 5,500-horsepower transporters that you cannot purchase:
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