View allAll Photos Tagged spaceshuttle
Russian Space Shuttle Buran
Amazing ship measuring 36 m long, 16 m high and weighing about 80 tons.
The BURAN prototype OK-GLI shown in the museum was built in 1984 and was used for testing glidingflight and landing after reentry into the atmosphere. During this part of the project the OK-GLI completed 25 atmospheric flights between 1984 and 1989 and significantly contributed to the successful orbital flight of a BURAN shuttle in 1988.
The Space Shuttle Enterprise (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight.
Originally, Enterprise had been intended to be refitted for orbital flight, which would have made it the second space shuttle to fly after Columbia.However, during the construction of Columbia, details of the final design changed, particularly with regard to the weight of the fuselage and wings. Refitting Enterprise for spaceflight would have involved dismantling the orbiter and returning the sections to subcontractors across the country. As this was an expensive proposition, it was determined to be less costly to build Challenger around a body frame (STA-099) that had been created as a test article. Similarly, Enterprise was considered for refit to replace Challenger after the latter was destroyed, but Endeavour was built from structural spares instead
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Virginia
Lego Technic Model #8480 - Space Shuttle
Bay door open, satellite panels extended.
Pictures were taken as a record of my childhood as these model were found in the loft boxed but assembled.
Commander, Space Shuttle Challenger. Lt. Col. USAF, and explorer. We talk about the cost of freedom when visiting these military cemeteries. We must also recognize that the cost of exploration is very high, also. The numbers of men and women who have lost their lives in the exploration of the world, our continent, the oceans and the vast reaches of space is very large. Yet, the unrestrained spirit of man seeks the unknown no matter what the risk. We must always be willing to let the risks be taken and honor both the one who discovers and the one who sacrificed so that others may follow. To not explore, because the risk is high, is to restrain man's spirit with the result being the loss of discovery that advances mankind.
"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
John Kennedy, Rice University 9/12/1962
This is made possible by:
CelesTrak: NORAD Two-Line Element Sets Current Data
&
Artemis : a simple application to create real time orbits for Google Earth.
Refer Keyhole BBS Thread "International Space Station"
Related Blog Entry:
so, the neighbor of my house-sit runs up to the door on Sunday night, and he tells me the shuttle is about to take off. I ran out and saw it, and before the trail could go away, I took a shot or two. If I ran back in to get the camera, I'd have missed the thing itself, and I'd rather have seen it than to "get the shot".
In our trip to Florida the pilot announced that we would be able to see the Space Shuttle launch. We first saw a very bright light emerge from the clouds. The picture doesn't really capture the colors and size of the smoke trail.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Discovery was the third Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle to fly in space. It entered service in 1984 and retired from spaceflight as the oldest and most accomplished orbiter, the champion of the shuttle fleet. Discovery flew on 39 Earth-orbital missions, spent a total of 365 days in space, and traveled almost 240 million kilometers (150 million miles)--more than the other orbiters. It shuttled 184 men and women into space and back, many of whom flew more than once, for a record-setting total crew count of 251.
Because Discovery flew every kind of mission the Space Shuttle was meant to fly, it embodies well the 30-year history of U.S. human spaceflight from 1981 to 2011. Named for renowned sailing ships of exploration, Discovery is preserved as intact as possible as it last flew in 2011 on the 133rd Space Shuttle mission.
NASA transferred Discovery to the Smithsonian in April 2012 after a delivery flight over the nation's capital.
The space shuttle Atlantis went streaking by my house on its final launch...I just happened to be out with my camera, but unfortunately didn't have my long lens on!
Construction began on the first orbiter on June 4, 1974. Designated OV-101, it was originally planned to be named Constitution. However, a write-in campaign caused it to be renamed after the Starship Enterprise, featured on the television show Star Trek.
The design of OV-101 was not the same as that planned for OV-102, the first flight model; the tail was constructed differently, and it did not have the interfaces to mount OMS pods. A large number of subsystems—ranging from main engines to radar equipment—were not installed on this vehicle, but the capacity to add them in the future was retained. Instead of a Thermal Protection System, its surface was primarily fiberglass.
In mid-1976, the orbiter was used for ground vibration tests, allowing engineers to compare data from an actual flight vehicle with theoretical models.
On September 17, 1976, Enterprise was rolled out of Rockwell's plant at Palmdale, California. In recognition of its fictional namesake, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and most of the principal cast of the original series of Star Trek were on hand at the dedication ceremony
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Virginia
I just returned from a one week holiday to DisneyWorld and the Kennedy Space Center, with my son and his family.
As a teacher of math and science, I often included a unit on space travel. I was lucky enough to be a part of NASA training for teachers, and it was wonderful to see this shuttle and actually go onboard.