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With the Zenit-3SL rocket fully integrated, the Sea Launch Commander moves around the pier and lines up directly in front of the Odyssey Launch Platform. The ship's stern is rolled out and the process for transferring the rocket from the ship to the platform begins. The platform lowers large yellow brackets on cables extended from the forward end of the platform's hangar. These brackets are attached to points on the first and second stages of the rocket. |
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Once the brackets are fastened and checked out according to procedure, the cranes lift the rocket up 200 feet to the launch deck and then ease it into the hangar, where it rests on the transporter-erector during the transit to the launch site.
(Sea Launch photos by
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