Editing Service structure (section)

=== White room ===
[[File:STS white room.jpg|thumb|Closeout crew members help astronaut [[Andrew Feustel]] in the  [[Launch Complex 39]] white room prior to launch of [[STS-125]]]]
The '''white room''' was the small area used by [[astronauts]] to access the spacecraft during human flights up through the [[Space Shuttle program]].  The room takes its name from its white paint, which was used in [[Project Gemini]].  The room was first used in [[Project Mercury]]. Its use and white color (since Gemini) continued through subsequent programs of Apollo and the Space Shuttle.<ref>https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2024/03/03/all-aboard-astronauts-climb-into-dragon-endeavour/</ref>

Astronauts and closeout crew made their final preparations before liftoff, such as donning [[parachute]] packs, putting on [[spacesuit]] helmets, and detaching portable [[air-conditioning]] units.<ref>{{cite book|last=Burgess|first=Colin |title=Fallen astronauts: heroes who died reaching for the moon|year=2003|publisher=Bison Books|isbn=0-8032-6212-4}}</ref>
In 2014, NASA planned to move the White Room to a museum.<ref name=cs20140414>{{cite news |title=NASA signs over historic Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX |url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-041414a-launch-pad-39a-spacex.html |newspaper=collectSpace |date=2014-04-14 |access-date=2021-10-01 |archive-date=2014-08-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824060434/http://collectspace.com/news/news-041414a-launch-pad-39a-spacex.html |url-status=live }}</ref> SpaceX launches use a rotating "Crew Access Arm" for . {{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} As of the 2020 [[Crew Dragon Demo-2]] mission, SpaceX began calling the equivalent area of its Crew Access Arm at LC-39A the "White Room" in recognition of the original NASA structure's significance.<ref> https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/commercialcrew/2025/03/14/nasas-spacex-crew-10-arrives-at-launch-complex-39a-2/ </ref> On the first launch attempt, NASA and SpaceX flight crew began signing their respective "meatball" [[NASA insignia]] or SpaceX logos at the end of the Crew Access Arm, a practice which has become a tradition.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}