I arrived in Kourou, French Guiana yesterday and went straight to a meeting in the Jupiter building, where I will be on launch day.
Today, I went through BAF training. BAF is a French acronym for ‘Batiment d’Assemblage Finale’ – or Final Assembly Building. That is where the launch vehicle currently stands until it is moved to the launch pad.
Part of BAF training includes wearing a gas mask and going down a three-story high escape chute, with a fireman waiting to catch you at the bottom. The escape chute is used in case of an emergency at the BAF, where one needs to evacuate the building as quickly as possible if there is a hazardous condition. We mortals only go through a relatively short drill (30 feet). Firemen have to go through the real drill once a year, which is going down the escape chute from a height of 200 feet, roughly the height of the Ariane 5 rocket on its stand.
Today, I went through BAF training. BAF is a French acronym for ‘Batiment d’Assemblage Finale’ – or Final Assembly Building. That is where the launch vehicle currently stands until it is moved to the launch pad.
Part of BAF training includes wearing a gas mask and going down a three-story high escape chute, with a fireman waiting to catch you at the bottom. The escape chute is used in case of an emergency at the BAF, where one needs to evacuate the building as quickly as possible if there is a hazardous condition. We mortals only go through a relatively short drill (30 feet). Firemen have to go through the real drill once a year, which is going down the escape chute from a height of 200 feet, roughly the height of the Ariane 5 rocket on its stand.
Contributor: Jean-Luc Froeliger, Senior Director, Space Systems Acquisition
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