View allAll Photos Tagged SpaceShuttle
Talk about lucky... I was in Orlando for Tech Ed and NASA was planning a launch on the last day of the conference. So, I drove over there and was very lucky to be able to catch a launch. This was taken right on the shore in the back yard of some guy's house, but there were a lot of people that "just showed up"... so we did, too!
They will get together at 20:18 JST, 7:18 EDT.....
STS 114 : Space Shuttle Discovery
IIS (ZARYA) : International Space Station
NASA Shuttle Bus- April 30th, 2014-
We live right outside of NASA here in Houston, They retired the 747 used to ferry the Space Shuttles after their flights. They retired the Jumbo Bus and hauled it in pieces to its final resting spot at the Space Museum on the NASA Grounds. They had to move all the pieces at night and it came right by my neighborhood last night! What an event They had everything shut down! It as quite a sight. It was stopped here for 30 minutes while utility companies moved overhead wires at an upcoming intersection, making for a great photo-op!
for the full story... go to www.chron.com/default/article/Clear-Lake-highway-set-to-c...
The orbiter's maximum glide ratio/lift-to-drag ratio varies considerably with speed, ranging from 1:1 at hypersonic speeds, 2:1 at supersonic speeds and reaching 4.5:1 at subsonic speeds during approach and landing.[49]
In the lower atmosphere, the orbiter flies much like a conventional glider, except for a much higher descent rate, over 50 m/s (180 km/h; 110 mph). At approximately Mach 3, two air data probes, located on the left and right sides of the orbiter's forward lower fuselage, are deployed to sense air pressure related to the vehicle's movement in the atmosphere.
When the approach and landing phase begins, the orbiter is at a 3,000 m (9,800 ft) altitude, 12 km (7.5 mi) from the runway. The pilots apply aerodynamic braking to help slow down the vehicle. The orbiter's speed is reduced from 682 to 346 km/h (424 to 215 mph), approximately, at touch-down (compared to 260 km/h (160 mph) for a jet airliner). The landing gear is deployed while the Orbiter is flying at 430 km/h (270 mph). To assist the speed brakes, a 12 m (39 ft) drag chute is deployed either after main gear or nose gear touchdown (depending on selected chute deploy mode) at about 343 km/h (213 mph). The chute is jettisoned once the orbiter slows to 110 km/h (68.4 mph).
After landing, the vehicle stands on the runway for several minutes to permit the fumes from poisonous hydrazine (which is used as a fuel for attitude control, and the orbiter's three APUs) to dissipate, and for the shuttle fuselage to cool before the astronauts disembark.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Virginia
This tool, and several like it, were used during payload transfers at the pad. They were used to measure distances between the hooks that support the payload while it is in the Payload Chageout Room (PCR) and the large pins mounted to each payload that the payload bay latches grab on to.
Pima Air and Space Museum
Space Shuttle Challenger Model
The shuttle was designed to launch as a rocket, orbit as a spacecraft, and land as an airplane, It was the first reusable manned spacecraft and was launched by two reusable solid rocket boosters.
The Space Shuttle Challenger was the second orbiter utilized by NASA's Space Shuttle Program. The Challenger's first flight, STS-6, launched on April 4, 1983. During its service, Challenger mission accomplishments include completion of the first spacewalk of the shuttle program, launching the first Tracking and Data Relay System (TDRS) satellite, and carrying the first American woman into space. Challenger completed nine missions before being destroyed on the tenth. On January 28, 1986, 73 seconds into its launch, the shuttle exploded due to faulty solid rocket booster O-rings, killing all seven crew members. The live broadcast of the explosion shocked the nation and halted all NASA launches for two years.
A memorial to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia who died during STS-107, , the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program.
Commander - Rick D. Husband
Pilot - William C. McCool
Mission Specialist - David M. Brown
Mission Specialist - Kalpana Chawla
Mission Specialist - Laurel B. Clark
Payload Commander - Michael P. Anderson
Payload Specialist - Ilan Ramon