Mate-Demate Device

A third Orbiter Lifting Fixture was to serve a similar function at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, the proposed West Coast launch location for the Shuttle.

The first Mate-Demate Device was built at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California, and completed in late 1976.

[1] Connell Associates of Coral Gables, Florida, designed the MDD, which was constructed in 1976 by the George A. Fuller Company of Chicago, Illinois, for US$1,700,000 (equivalent to $9,102,456 in 2023).

[2] A similar but slightly less complex Mate-Demate Device was located at the Shuttle Landing Facility airport at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

The KSC MDD's hoists had a total lifting capacity of 230,000 pounds (100,000 kg), slightly less than the California version.

When it was first built, the top KSC MDD was the location of the first air traffic control tower for the Shuttle Landing Facility.

[4]Orbiter Lifting Fixture was a scaled-down version of the MDD planned for use exclusively at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Previously, the orbiters were trucked to the MDD at the Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, about 36 miles (58 km) away, which took about 10 hours.

[7] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.