View allAll Photos Tagged SpaceShuttle
November 1985 plan for space shuttle flights Mission 61I (STS-41) through 71C (STS-46), including Mission 62B (STS-2V). Note that flights 61I, K and L as well as 71B are out of sequence, and that had this schedule been kept, 61I and 62B would have seen two shuttles in orbit at the same time. August 1988 was the latest they had flights planned, although the manifest was issued monthly, meaning there could be a December 1985 and January 1986 manifest lurking around. This was the latest such plan prior to Challenger that I could find.
Cape Canaveral onlookers wish fair winds to Space Shuttle Discovery as she rides off into the sunset. Er, sunrise.
November 1985 plan for space shuttle flights Mission 71D (STS-47) through 71H (STS-51), including Mission 72A (STS-3V). August 1988 was the latest they had flights planned, although the manifest was issued monthly, meaning there could be a December 1985 and January 1986 manifest lurking around. This was the latest such plan prior to Challenger that I could find.
Pima Air and Space Museum
SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM FIXED BASE GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION SIMULATOR
One of only three advanced space shuttle orbiter simulators used to train NASA astronauts.
The fixed-base Guidance and Navigation Simulator (GNS) represents one of only three simulators once used to train astronauts for the Space Shuttle Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Along with the motion-base Shuttle Mission Simulator (SMS) and the Fixed-Base Simulator (FBS), these complex machines were used to create a series of various mission tasks ranging from full mission rehearsals down to recreating specific exercises such as atmosphere entry or launching satellites.
Predating the SMS and FBS, the GNS was built in the late 1970s and operational by 1982. Initially it was primarily used only to test and verify guidance and navigation software that would later be installed in the SMS, FBS, and orbiters. As such it originally did not have visual computer-generated windscreen displays and much of the interior was unfinished, though it did contain the same complex array of cockpit instrumentation, controls, and computer displays operated by five distinct general-purpose computers (GPC) present in actual orbiters.
Following the Challenger accident investigation, the Rogers Commission suggested that NASA invest in additional crew training simulators to provide increased and expanded training and to handle the higher frequency of missions. However, the cost of providing an additional SMS or FBS proved too expensive, so NASA elected to upgrade the GNS into a full fixed-base crew simulator that was essentially identical to the FBS.
The upgraded GNS flight deck was enhanced to provide a more realistic appearance and a full visual computer-generated imagery system for the six forward facing windscreens. Computer-generated imagery (CGI) was a new science in the early 1980s and all the simulators used a first-generation CGI system, rudimentary by today's standards.
For 20 years the upgraded GNS was used interchangeably with the FBS and it is likely that every post-Challenger crew spent time in the GNS practicing launch, ascent, orbit, re-entry, and landing procedures.
With the end of the Space Shuttle Program, the GNS was retired in 2011. In late 2020 the GNS was used on the set of a science fiction movie due to be released in late 2021 [not sure why they’re being cryptic, its Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall]. The filmmakers modified the simulator's external appearance, making the GNS more closely resemble the outer surface of an actual orbiter, along with internal cabin modifications. Following movie shooting, the GNS flight deck was donated to the Pima Air & Space Museum in early 2021.
Didn't bring an even remotely appropriate lens for this, but what the heck - use the camera you have!
The Pathfinder Shuttle Stack at the U.S Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL, is the only full shuttle stack in the world.
Pathfinder served as a non-flight test vehicle and is currently undergoing restoration.
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.
The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), conducted science experiments in orbit, participated in the Shuttle-Mir program with Russia, and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS).
March 1983, on a state visit of the US, HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip visit Rockwell's Downey plant in California, and see the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis under construction.
The Space Shuttle Enterprise does a flyby around NYC landmarks before landing at JFK Airport. It will be put on display at the Intrepid Museum
Bonus shot for week 9 of the 52 Weeks of Lego project.
Space Shuttle Discovery is currently on its final mission, delivering equipment to the International Space Station. I had planned to save this shot for the week of the final shuttle mission ever, but all the remaining missions I could find on NASA's website coincide with weeks of important events in my personal life that I would rather showcase, so here it is this week. I missed the launch by a few days, but the mission is still on, so it's still a current event.