1. SPACE
SHUTTLES

2. In 2006 N.A.S.A. launched Space Shuttle
Discovery.

3. Discovery and its crew are home after a 13-day, five million mile journey in space. The mission, STS-121, tested new safety procedures, delivered supplies and a third crewmember to the ISS. It also did crucial repair work on the orbital outpost.
Praising his superb crew, Commander Steve Lindsey declared Discovery was the cleanest vehicle he’s ever seen and said they’re ready to assemble the space station.

4. The failure of space shuttle Challenger was an O-ring seal that had failed to lift off. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB (solid rocket booster) joint it sealed, allowing a flare of pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and influence the close by SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. An External Tank containing liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer, and two SRBs, broke apart 73 seconds into its flight leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. They disintegrated over the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Central Florida at 11:39am. Roughly 90 seconds into the launch, the SRB breach flare led to the separation of the right hand side SRB's attachment and the structural failure of the external tank, dumping the liquid hydrogen fuel load all at once and causing a massive explosion as this fuel was immediately ignited by various present flame sources.

5. The Explosion of Challenger

6. The six engine, Boeing 747 piggy-backed Space Shuttle Endeavour back to its home at the Kennedy Space Center in Central Florida. As you can see, the plane is much larger than the shuttle and was modified to carry the space craft.

7. Their planned 11-day mission will deliver 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of cargo, spare parts and new hardware to the ISS. The spaceflight may also be extended three extra days pending the success of a new station-to-shuttle power transfer system.
The two SRBs provide the main thrust to lift the space shuttle off the pad and up to an altitude of about feet. Each booster has a thrust of approximately 3,300,000 pounds at launch. That’s a lot of power! They are ignited after the space shuttle’s three main engines’ thrust level is verified.

8. This is a training activity for the pilots. It looks pretty real
Being a space shuttle pilot is a highly complicated job. Look at all the buttons.

9. THE QUIZ 1. How high do the SRBs take the shuttle up?
2. How many main rockets does the shuttle have?
3. What caused the failure on space shuttle Challenger?
4. What did it seal off?
5. What did the External tank contain?
6. What kind of plane carried Endeavour back to Florida?
7. How many engines did it have?
THE QUIZ

10. ACTIVITY TIME !!!
Draw your own space shuttle including the rocket to lift it off.