Atlantis Feb 5, 0. Challenger Jan 23, 0. Endeavour Oct 19, 0. The Space Shuttle is one of the most complex machines ever devised by man and consisted of 4 main components to get it into the air. Each one was an important as the other and served as a vital part of getting into orbit. Orbiter Vehicle. Solid Rocket Booster.
External Tank. Mobile Launch Platform. A smaller version of the Orbiter, called Mark I, was planned initially. This could later be replaced by a larger Mark II version of the Orbiter. The Orbiter itself could be scaled down considerably as NASA agreed to use external fuel tanks to carry the fuel the spacecraft would need to reach orbit.
In previous designs, the Orbiter would carry its own fuel tanks on board. In one version, the S-IC could be equipped with a crew compartment, wings and aerodynamic equipment to facilitate a manned Booster landing. Following separation, the Orbiter would reach orbit powered by its own engines, fed by two external liquid hydrogen tanks which would be jettisoned in space. The RS-IC would then return for a landing.
A more cost-effective version involved using a modified S-IC Saturn V first stage as an unmanned Booster which would be attached to a large external fuel tank. This array would be mated to the Orbiter. The S-IC would then act as an expendable Booster which would separate at an altitude of about 45 miles, leaving the Orbiter to reach orbit using its own engines fueled by the remaining single external fuel tank which would be jettisoned in space.
With the exception of the S-IC booster, this design was somewhat similar to the vehicles which eventually flew. The S-IC option was scrapped because the booster burned liquid oxygen and kerosene. This fuel combination was deemed too inefficient for the Space Shuttle. These were divided into parallel burn and series burn concepts. The Booster system would be jettisoned at some point during ascent. Initial options for the Booster called for various combinations of large or medium-sized solid rocket boosters with the possibility of high-pressure liquid fuel assist.
Series burn first stage arrays on the drawing board for the Space Shuttle called for various combinations of clustered solid rocket boosters, clustered modified Saturn V F-1 engines or new high-pressure liquid fueled engines. NASA again encountered development difficulties because all of the parallel and series burn concepts presented proved to be too expensive to be manufactured under tight budgetary constraints. The company would recommend the most cost-effective design for the vehicle, as well as tally funding alternatives such as commercial launch revenue.
Mathematica did provide some encouragement at a critical time for NASA. It was almost immediately determined that the U. Late in , there was a chance that the Space Shuttle program would be halted for more than one year.
NASA had no guarantee that President Nixon would recommend any expenditures for the Space Shuttle in his fiscal year budget, which ran from July 1, to June 30, President Nixon was ready to present his fiscal year budget to the U.
Congress in early January, If he did not endorse funds for the Space Shuttle in this budget, the program could have faced a stall until July, at the earliest. At a. Pacific Time on January 5, , President Nixon announced his commitment to fund the development of the Space Shuttle. Just 19 days later, his budget was presented to Congress. Necessary funding for the Space Shuttle was ultimately approved. Mathematica reported that two options remained economically feasible for the Booster stage.
Either a large solid rocket booster system or a high-pressure liquid fueled Booster system were considered feasible. While the Booster employing large solid rocket boosters would likely be more expensive to operate, NASA opted to take advantage of huge cost savings up front.
Since costs of ultimate operation could be absorbed throughout the life of the Space Shuttle program, the parallel burn Booster using large solid rocket boosters was selected. The solid rocket boosters were to be recovered and re-used following each launch. NASA claimed each solid rocket booster could be flown to times prior to retirement. The International Space Division of Rockwell received the contract to develop and manufacture the Orbiter, as well as manage overall vehicle integration, on July 25, By this time, the accepted design of the Space Shuttle was quite similar to the vehicles that eventually entered service.
However, a few design changes would follow. During an in-flight emergency, these motors would have been fired to propel the Orbiter away from its main solid rocket boosters. The turbofan engines would have enabled the Orbiter to maintain powered flight during landing operations and powered flight transfer between ground facilities. Originally, this contract specified that a small solid rocket booster be attached atop the ET.
The small solid rocket booster would be fired following ET jettison to propel the tank back toward the atmosphere. However, studies indicated that the ET could not achieve orbit on its own inertia and would fall back, then break up in the atmosphere by itself. The company had already demonstrated a successful track record of providing reliable solid rocket boosters for a plethora of rockets. A dispute regarding the SRB contract was initiated by Lockheed following its issuance. While the contract remained with Thiokol after a resolution of the action, the grievance process effectively froze the contract until June, All of the subcontractors delivered their Enterprise components to Rockwell by the end of Enterprise was rolled out of the Rockwell hangar at Palmdale, California on September 17, However, a fifth operational Space Shuttle was not originally anticipated.
Plans called for up to 20 launches per year from each of three launch pads. Although NASA reviewed several detailed proposals for constructing virgin Space Shuttle processing, launch and landing sites in various parts of the country, the space agency wisely opted to conserve scarce resources by modifying existing facilities. One of the first important tasks of the Space Shuttle fleet was to have been to boost the Skylab space station to a higher orbit.
When Skylab was initially abandoned on February 8, it was purposely boosted to a slightly higher orbit which varied from to miles. Calculations indicated that Skylab would remain in orbit for at least nine years, giving NASA ample time to get the Space Shuttle program rolling. NASA had optimistically envisioned that a Space Shuttle would be able to attempt a docking with Skylab as early as the fifth Space Shuttle flight, which was originally expected to occur as early as the latter part of By late , National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration studies indicated that solar activity was forecast to become the second most intense in the century, with solar winds likely to be strong enough to increase atmospheric drag and cause Skylab to decay to much lower altitudes within a year.
The revelation prompted NASA to determine how, if necessary, Skylab could be guided back to Earth in a manner necessary to avoid damage to populated areas. NASA was also prompted to step up its development of Space Shuttle hardware necessary to save the space station. Martin Marietta had already designed a teleoperator docking unit that could be remotely guided by an astronaut to dock with Skylab. Once docking was completed, engines in the docking mechanism could be fired to boost Skylab to a safe orbit.
The docking unit was scheduled to be delivered to the Kennedy Space Center by August, for a Space Shuttle flight scheduled for September, Due to development delays, the September, Space Shuttle flight would be the third, not the fifth as envisioned.
It was discovered that Skylab operational systems were working well, and NASA remained optimistic that the space station could be saved.
But time was clearly running out. The effort to save Skylab ended abruptly in December, NASA had run into development problems with the Space Shuttle Main Engines, and it became clear that even the first Space Shuttle launch would not occur until well after the solar winds had increased atmospheric drag and forced the Skylab orbit to decay beyond hope of rescue.
Skylab, however, would refuse to die quietly. It did not, however, break apart as expected, and at p. Although the Skylab rescue mission was never completed, the Space Shuttle fleet was slated to support the launch of a plethora of scientific, commercial and military satellites.
It would also facilitate on-orbit scientific investigations and aid NASA in a slower, more methodical approach to completing a space station. The Space Shuttle fleet was never, however, destined to perform up to 60 missions per year as intended. And, the entire program was halted on January 28, when Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch. This was just the 25th Space Shuttle mission, and it became stunningly clear that major modifications to the entire Space Shuttle program were called for.
With the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on September 29, NASA entered a brand new era of Space Shuttle operations, adopting a more relaxed pace averaging about eight launches per year. Learning from one of its greatest tragedies, NASA was able to rebuild and maintain a Space Shuttle program that has been remarkably safe and reliable, with the exception of the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, The following information is more or less common to all Space Shuttles.
Although the Space Shuttle program was retired in , this information is included here for historic and research purposes. The Forward Fuselage, which is made up of lower and upper sections that form a clamlike shell around a pressurized crew compartment. The Crew Compartment, which is a pressurized three-level compartment intended to support all astronaut activities aboard the Orbiter.
The Crew Compartment has a side hatch for normal crew ingress and egress which can be blown in an emergency. The Crew Compartment also contains a hatch into an airlock from the middeck, and a hatch from the airlock through the aft bulkhead into the payload bay to support either spacewalks or access to pressurized modules in the payload bay area.
The Crew Compartment has 11 windows, including six forward windows, two overhead rendezvous observation windows, two aft payload bay viewing windows and a single side hatch window. Three panes make up each window. At a total width of nearly three inches, these are the thickest windows ever designed for see-through flight applications.
The Crew Compartment contains three levels, including a flight deck located at the top, a middeck in the center and a lower level equipment bay. The Crew Compartment is pressurized at This accommodates the crew with a shirt-sleeve working environment.
The Airlock, which is typically housed in the crew compartment middeck. The Airlock is 83 inches long and has a diameter of 63 inches. Two pressurized sealing hatches and a complement of support system hardware are contained in the Airlock. Each sealing hatch has a four-inch diameter observation window.
Depending on the mission application, the Airlock can be positioned in either the crew compartment or the payload bay in support of spacewalk activities. The Airlock can also be modified to employ a tunnel adapter hatch, tunnel adapter and tunnel to allow the crew to enter pressurized modules in the payload bay. The Wings, which provide an aerodynamic lifting surface to produce conventional lift and control for the Orbiter.
The left and right Wings consist of the wing glove and an intermediate section that includes the main landing gear wells. Each Wing is 60 feet long and has a maximum thickness of 5 feet. The Midfuselage, which provides a structural interface for the forward fuselage, aft fuselage and wings. It supports the payload bay doors, hinges, tie-down fittings, forward wing glove as well as various Orbiter system components. The Midfuselage provides the structural foundation for the payload bay. The Payload Bay Doors, which are opened shortly after orbit is achieved to allow heat to be released from the Orbiter and to allow the release of payloads as necessary.
The two Payload Bay Doors are hinged at the port or starboard side of the midfuselage and are latched at the centerline atop the Orbiter. Thermal seals on the Payload Bay Doors provide a relatively airtight environment within the payload bay when the doors are closed.
This seal is critical when ground operations require equipment and payloads to be maintained within the payload bay. Each Payload Bay Door is 60 feet long by 15 feet wide. The Aft Fuselage, which consists of an outer shell, thrust structure and internal secondary structure. The Aft Fuselage outer shell allows access to systems installed within the structure. The Aft Fuselage internal secondary structure houses hardware and wiring for auxiliary power unit, hydraulics, ammonia boiler and flash evaporator systems.
The Body Flap, which provides a thermal shield for the three Space Shuttle Main Engines during re-entry and provides the Orbiter with pitch control trim during atmospheric flight. The Vertical Tail provides aerodynamic stability for the Orbiter during flight, and its rudder can be split into two halves to act as a speed brake during landing. The Space Shuttle Orbiter remains the most complex flying machine ever built, and is made up of operational systems which include:.
The Thermal Protection System, which consists of various materials that are applied to the Orbiter external skin to help maintain the skin at acceptable temperatures during flight. Additional thermal protection is provided by insulation installed inside the Orbiter. Thermal protection materials protect the Orbiter from all temperatures above degrees Fahrenheit experienced during ascent and re-entry.
These materials also protect the Orbiter in a range of temperatures from minus degrees Fahrenheit to 3, degrees Fahrenheit experienced while in orbit. A number of different materials are used in the Thermal Protection System, including reinforced carbon-carbon, black high-temperature reusable surface insulation tiles, black fibrous refractory composite insulation tiles, white low-temperature reusable surface insulation tiles, quilted insulation blankets and more specialized materials.
In addition, the Main Propulsion System includes Space Shuttle Main Engine controllers, malfunction detection systems, hydraulic systems, thrust vector control systems and helium, oxidizer and fuel flow sequence systems. This is made up of two inch disconnects, an External Tank separation system and two Orbiter umbilical doors. The Orbital Maneuvering System, which is made up of two Orbital Maneuvering System engines and all of their related hardware.
Each OMS engine burns a combination of monomethyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide liquid fuel, and can produce a thrust of 6, pounds. Each OMS engine can be gimbaled to provide pitch and yaw control for the Orbiter as it maneuvers toward its intended mission orbit. The Reaction Control System, which is made up of thrusters fired to help the Orbiter achieve a precise orbital path or perform changes in its position, and all of their related hardware.
The RCS contains a total of 38 primary thrusters and 6 vernier thrusters. Each type of TPS had specific heat protection, impact resistance, and weight characteristics, which determined the locations on the shuttle where it was used as well as the amount of material used. Interplanetary Probes Feb 7, 0. Challenger Disaster Columbia Disaster. Many historic images taken of the Space Shuttle are After 25 missions spread over 19 years of service At liftoff the two Solid Rocket Boosters consume 11, lbs of fuel per second, which is 2 million times that of a car!
Shuttle FAQ. Shuttle Orbiter Vehicle. The Shuttle Fleet: Learn More. Orbiter Length: Ft. Empty Weight: , lb. Crew Capacity: Astronauts. Wingspan: 78 Ft. Load Capacity: 55, lb. Maximum Speed: 17, mph. Height: Takeoff Weight: , lb. Service Ceiling: nautical miles. Orbiter Vehicle Main Components: The 2, cubic-foot crew station module is a three-section pressurized working, living and stowage compartment in the forward portion of the Orbiter Vehicle.
Shuttle Flight Deck The flight deck is where the shuttle was controlled and was set up like an airplane with a pilot and copilot configuration. The Middeck The middeck functions as the crew living area when on mission and had access to both the airlock and flight deck. The Shuttle Cargo Bay.
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