Space Shuttle - Mission Of The Space Shuttle, The Orbiter, Propulsion Systems, Orbital Maneuvers, Orbital Activities - Structure of the STS
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The space shuttle is a reusable spacecraft that takes off like a rocket, orbits the Earth like a satellite, and then lands like a glider. The space shuttle has been essential to the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and to construction of the International Space Station; it has also been used for a wide variety of other military, scientific, and commercial missions. It is not capable of flight to the Moon or other planets, being designed only to orbit the Earth.
The first shuttle to be launched was the Columbia, on April 12, 1981. Since that time, two shuttles have been lost in flight: Challenger, which exploded during takeoff on January 28, 1986, and Columbia, which broke apart during reentry on February 1, 2003. Seven crew members died in each accident. The three remaining shuttles are the Atlantis, the Discovery, and the Endeavor. The first shuttle actually built, the Enterprise, was flown in the atmosphere but never equipped for space flight; it is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum.
A spacecraft closely resembling the U.S. space shuttle, the Aero-Buran, was launched by the former Soviet Union in November, 1988. Buran's computer-piloted first flight was also its last; the program was cut to save money and all copies of the craft that had been built were dismantled.
The STS has four main components: (1) the orbiter (i.e., the shuttle itself), (2) the three main engines integral to the orbiter, (3) the external fuel tank that fuels the orbiter's three engines during liftoff, and (4) two solid-fuel rocket boosters also used during liftoff.
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At one time, both the United States and the Soviet Union envisioned complex space programs that included space stations orbiting the Earth and reusable shuttle spacecraft to transport people, equipment, raw materials, and finished products to and from these space stations. Because of the high cost of space flight, however, each nation eventually ended up concentrating on only one aspect of this pr…
The orbiter, which is manufactured by Rockwell, International, Inc., is approximately the size of a commercial DC-9 jet, with a length of 122 ft (37 m), a wing span of 78 ft (24 m), and a weight of approximately 171,000 lb (77,000 kg). Its interior, apart from the engines and various mechanical and electronic compartments, is subdivided into two main parts: crew cabin and cargo bay. The crew cabin…
The power needed to lift a space shuttle into orbit comes from two solid-fuel rockets, each 12 ft (4 m) wide and 149 ft (45.5 m) long, and from the shuttle's three built-in, liquid-fuel engines. The fuel used in the solid rockets is compounded of aluminum powder, ammonium perchlorate, and a special polymer that binds the other ingredients into a rubbery matrix. This mixture is molded into a…
For making fine adjustments, the spacecraft depends on six small rockets termed vernier (VUR-nee-ur) jets, two in the nose and four in the OMS pods. These allow small changes in the shuttle's flight path and orientation. The computer system used aboard the shuttle, which governs all events during takeoff and on which the shuttle's pilots are completely dependent for interacting with …
The space shuttles have performed a wide variety of tasks in over two decades of operation. Some examples of the kinds of activities carried out during shuttle flights include the following: …
Some of the most difficult design problems faced by shuttle engineers were those involving the reentry process. When the spacecraft has completed its mission in space and is ready to leave orbit, its OMS fires just long enough to slow the shuttle by 200 MPH (320 km/h). This modest change in speed is enough to cause the shuttle to drop out of its orbit and begin its descent to Earth. When the shutt…
Many shuttle missions have been partly or entirely military in nature. Eight military missions—the majority—have been devoted to the deployment of secret military satellites in three categories: signals intelligence (i.e., eavesdropping on radio communications), optical and radar reconnaissance of the Earth, and military communications. All these deployments occurred between 1982 and…
Disasters have been associated with both the Soviet (now Russian) and American space programs. Unfortunately, this has included the STS. The first of the two disasters suffered by the shuttle program took place on January 28, 1986, when the external fuel tank of the shuttle Challenger exploded only 73 seconds into the flight. All seven astronauts were killed, including high-school teacher Christa …
Scores of shuttle missions were successfully carried out between the Challenger's successful 1988 mission and February 1, 2003, when disaster struck again. The space shuttle Columbia broke up suddenly during reentry, strewing debris over much of Texas and several other states and killing all seven astronauts on board. At the time of this writing, analysts identified that the most likely cau…
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