Space Shuttles By Frederick

Launching Space Shuttles To lift the 4.5 million pound (2.05 million kg) shuttle from the pad to orbit (115 to 400 miles/185 to 643 km) above the Earth, the shuttle uses the following components: two solid rocket boosters (SRB) three main engines of the orbiter the external fuel tank (ET) orbital maneuvering system (OMS) on the orbiter

Space Shuttle Liftoff The two orbital maneuvering systems' (OMS) engines are located in pods on the aft section of the orbiter, one on either side of the tail. These engines place the shuttle into final orbit, change the shuttle's position from one orbit to another, and slow the shuttle down for re-entry.

Space Shuttle Liftoff

Space Shuttle in Orbit Once in space, the shuttle orbiter is your home for seven to 14 days. The orbiter can be oriented so that the cargo bay doors face toward the Earth or away from the Earth depending upon the mission objectives; in fact, the orientation can be changed throughout the mission. One of the first things that the commander will do is to open the cargo bay doors to cool the orbiter

Starboard Side & Port Side

Life in a Space Shuttle The orbiter must provide you with an environment similar to Earth. You must have air, food, water, and a comfortable temperature. The orbiter must also take away the wastes that your body produces (carbon dioxide, urine, feces) and protect you from fire.Earth

Life In a Space Shuttle On board the space shuttle, you need to have the following: atmosphere similar to Earth carbon dioxide removed contaminating or trace gases removed normal humid environment

Work Aboard The Shuttle The shuttle was designed to deploy and retrieve satellites as well as deliver payloads to Earth orbit. To do this, the shuttle uses the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). The RMS was built by Canada and is a long arm with an elbow and wrist joint. You can control the RMS from the aft flight deck. The RMS can grab payloads (satellites) from the cargo bay and deploy them, or grab on to payloads and place them into the bay.Earth

Shuttles Return To Earth For a successful return and landing, dozens of things have to go just right. Close the cargo bay doors. In most cases, they have been flying nose-first and upside down, so they then fire the RCS thrusters to turn the orbiter tail first. Once the orbiter is tail first, the crew fires the OMS engines to slow the orbiter down and fall back to Earth; it will take about 25 minutes before the shuttle reaches the upper atmosphere. During that time, the crew fires the RCS thrusters to pitch the orbiter over so that the bottom of the orbiter faces the atmosphere (about 40 degrees) and they are moving nose first again. Finally, they burn leftover fuel from the forward RCS as a safety precaution because this area encounters the highest heat of re- entry.

Most Memorable Missions Apollo Challenger 1986

SHOCKWAVE

Space Shuttles Improvement As mentioned previously, falling debris (foam insulation) from the ET damaged the shuttle orbiter, leading to Columbia's break up upon re-entry. To bring the shuttles back to flight status, NASA has focused on three major areas:

Space Shuttles Improvement Redesign the ET to prevent insulation from damaging the shuttle orbiter Improve inspection of the shuttle to detect damage Find ways to repair possible damage to the orbiter while in orbit Formulate contingency plans for the crew of a damaged shuttle to stay at the ISS until rescue

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