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Pima Air and Space Museum
Space Shuttle Thermal Protection Tile
A sample thermal protection tile from the Space Shuttle's lower wing section. Each Space Shuttle was covered in more than 24,000 such tiles to protect the spacecraft from the extreme heat (up to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit) created during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. These tiles were made of silica fibers fused together with various chemicals and covered with a black glass coating.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Flags on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida wave a final salute to space shuttle Atlantis as its engines ignite for liftoff. Atlantis began its final flight, the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station, at 11:29 a.m. EDT July 8. STS-135 will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the orbiting laboratory. Atlantis also is flying the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, a failed ammonia pump module will be returned to Earth aboard Atlantis to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 is the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135.... Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Tom Farrar
The space shuttle Endeavour flew over Houston and landed at Ellington Field on its final flight from Florida to California. Mom went to see it. The shuttle was bolted to a 747 for its flight.
Self-Portrait (top image)
Astronaut Steve Robinson turns the camera on himself during his historic repair job "underneath" Discovery on August 3. The Shuttle's heat shield, where Robinson removed a pair of protruding gap fillers, is reflected in his visor.
Unprecedented Vista (bottom image)
Discovery's underside floats over the Earth in this first-of-its-kind view, taken during astronaut Steve Robinson's dramatic August 3 spacewalk. Riding the International Space Station's robot arm, Robinson ventured under the Shuttle to remove a pair of gap fillers sticking out between tiles on the orbiter's heat shield.
image credit: NASA
Endeavour flying over The Little Mermaid ride in Disneyland California Adventures. (Rosa Trieu/Neon Tommy)
Pima Air and Space Museum
(exhibit under construction)
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.
SHUTTLE STS 129....© Yvonne Wallin All Rights Reserved. No usage allowed including copying or sharing without written permission
Pima Air and Space Museum
Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment Assembly (TMG)
The TMG is part of the extravehicular spacesuit worn by astronauts during spacewalks. It protects the wearer against solar radiation, extreme temperatures, micrometeoroids, and other orbital debris. Small flecks of paint or millimeter-sized micrometeoroids traveling at thousands of miles per hour can depressurize a suit or vehicle, potentially killing an astronaut.
7.) Vest
The vest component of the TMG fits over the Hard Upper Torso unit of the extravehicular spacesuit.
Visitors wait in the open space between Disneyland and California Adventures for Endeavour to pass by. (Rosa Trieu/Neon Tommy)
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Welcome to a preview of a new exhibition about human spaceflight since the 1970s-people traveling to space, living and working there, and seeking to move beyond Earth.
Like spaceflight itself, this exhibition is a work in progress. When completed in late 2011, it will highlight the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, and look beyond to possible futures in space.
For now, you can view some spaceflight icons and try some hands-on activities to test your space knowledge, explore your interests in space work, and exercise your decision-making skills.
We will keep adding objects and displays, so visit again and watch things change.
Come in and see... Are you ready for spaceflight?
The Bayonne Nature Club planted three trees today in observance of Arbor Day. At the last minute, the location of one of the trees to be planted was changed to First Street Park in Bayonne. What a surprise we were treated to when the space shuttle Enterprise passed over Staten Island and by the Bayonne Bridge enroute to NY. If we had the ceremony at the original park, I never would have seen the shuttle. Too bad I did not have my zoom lens, but it was an awesome sight to see!!