Space Shuttle Orbital Processing Facility

By Marty McDowell/NASA

Immediately after landing, the orbiter is towed to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) located west of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) . The orbiter then undergoes safing procedures in the OPF which include removing residual fuels and explosive ordnance items. Then the orbiter's previous mission payloads are removed and the vehicle is fully inspected, tested, and refurbished for its next mission. These functions require approximately two-thirds of the time between missions. The remainder is devoted to the installation and checkout of the payload for the next mission. Power-up testing of orbiter vehicles in the OPF are actually controlled from consoles in the Launch Control Complex (LCC) .

OPF-1 and OPF-2 consist of two 2,700 sq meter (29,000 sq ft) high bays and are separated by a 2,130 sq meter (23,600 sq ft) low bay while OPF-3 is across the street.

OPF-3 was previously called the Orbiter Maintenance & Refurbishment Facility (OMRF) but has been upgraded to a fully functioning Orbiter Processing Facility. OPF-3 is located across the street from OPF-1 and OPF-2. It is 4,645 sq meters (50,000 sq ft) facility. It consists of a high bay 29 meters high (95 ft) high and a two-story low bay area.

Source: NASA.

Space References (Videos):
Cosmos. PBS, 2000.
Stephen Hawking's Universe. PBS, 1997.
Hyperspace. BBC, 2002.
Life Beyond Earth PBS, 1999.
The Planets. BBC, 1999.
Understanding The Universe. A&E, 1996.