Space Shuttle Pathfinder - Definition and Overview

The Space Orbiter Pathfinder (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation(Honorary): OV-98; original MPTA-098) is a 75-ton Space Shuttle mock-up made of steel. It was initially built and used by NASA to practise handling and moving of actual Space Shuttles (as made possible by the mock-up's similarity in size, weight and shape). It was later purchased by a Japanese organization who refurbished the steel mock-up to more closely resemble an actual Space Shuttle and named her Pathfinder, for purposes of showing it in a Tokyo, Japan space exhibition. Pathfinder has since been returned to the U.S. and is presently on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

External links

• Orbiter Vehicles (http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/orbiters.html)
• Shuttle Test Article Pathfinder (http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/pathfinder.html)

Example Usage of Pathfinder