On the Wings of a Dream the Space Shuttle

8/8/2019 On the Wings of a Dream the Space Shuttle

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Written for theOffice of EducationNational Air and Space MuseumSmithsonian InstitutionAnd theNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationWashington, D.C.Designed by theDepartment of ExhibitsNational Air and Space Museum

NASANational Aeronautics andSpace AdministrationOn the Cover:Space Shuttle D i s c o v e r ) takes off on misson 51-C from L aunchPad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crewmembers are Ken M attingly (commander), Loren Shriver(pilot), Ellison Onizuka and Jim B uchli (mission specialists),and G ar) Payton (payload specialist).


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M wA B L EO FC O N T E N T S1 National Aeronautics and Space Administration2 The Sp ace Transportation S ystem3 T he E nterprise4 The S huttle Orbiter6 Solid Rocket Boosters7 The External Tank8 A stronaut Training10 Getting to Space12 Orbiting in the W orld of W eightlessness14 Eating in Space16 Your Bathroom in Space17 Sleeping in Space18 Dressing for Space19 Seeing, Hea ring, and Exercising in Space20 W orking Inside the Orbiter21 Spacelab22 W orking Outside the O rbiter24 Returning to Earth26 Shuttle Flight Facts

27 Shuttle Schedule28 The Future is Yours


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N A T I O N A LA E R O N A U T IC S A N D S P A C EA D M I N I S T R A T I O N

hicle carrying the Apollo S

NA SA's story is one of learning. It is a story oft, from sounding rockets to the Saturn V ,sm all satellites to complex spacecraft. It is thetraveling to the Moon and w ork-ow-E arth orbit. Space probes have extendedn to the outer planets, and scientificysteries at the edge of the universe.NA SA, a network of m any installations acrossing-

ies for one or more of N ASA's programs, suchs satel-tes, m anned spaceflight, and propulsion. If you

are traveling in Alabam a, California, Florida, Mary-land, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas, or Virginia, you m ayhave an opportunity to see som e of NASA 's work.M ost of the installations have a V isitors Inform a-tion Ce nter with exhibits that tell you ab out thefacility and its program s, and som e informa tioncenters also have tours for visitors.When you learn about NA SA, you learn a lotabout aviation and space. You also learn a lotabout science and history and literature. For in-stance, you will notice that N ASA spacecraft havedifferent kinds of names. Som e nam es come frommyths and legends, some are based on descrip-tions of their missions. The Space Shuttle orbiterswere nam ed after sea vessels used in research andexploration, and otherslike Space StationFreedom grow out of a formal nam ing processwithin NA SA. Each nam e and each project canlead to an ex citing investigation-esearch, experi-ments - along with dreams for the future.NA SA has a num ber of educational programsfor you and your teachers, for both classroomgroups and individual students. If you would like toknow more about them, ask your teacher tocontact the Educational Affairs Division, CodeXE E, NASA, Washington, DC 20546 .

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T H E S P A C ET R A N S P O R T A T I O NS Y S T E MThe United States has been sending astronautsinto space since 1961. Until 1981, the NationalAeronautics and Space A dministration (NA SA)manned programsM ercury, G emini, Apollo, andSkylab-used launch veh icles and spacecraft thatwent up only once. As the United States madeprogress in its space program, it was decided that aspacecraft and launch vehicle that could be put upinto space more than one time w as desirable. Theywere supposed to lower the cost of space flightand make space flight increasingly routine.NAS A w as given the responsibility for develop-ing this new transportation system. The Space T rans-portation System is NASA's name for the overallprogram producing the Space Shuttle.The Space Shuttle is a remarkable flying ma-chine. It takes off like a rocket. In earth orbit itmaneuvers like a spacecraft. It lands like a glider.The main purpose of the Space Shuttle is todeliver payloads to Earth orbit over and over again.The astronauts aboard the Shu ttle are able to de-ploy, repair, and retrieve satellites. They also canstudy Earth from space.The Space Shuttle system consists of four pri-mary parts. They are the orbiter, two solid rocketboosters, and an external fuel tank. NASA plans toreuse both the solid rocket boosters and the orbiter.The orbiter is the main part of the Shuttle sys-tem. It carries the crew and payload to orbit andreturns the astronauts and some of the pay loads toEarth. NASA expects to reuse the orbiter morethan 100 times. Five orbiters have b een bu ilt todate: the Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger,Discovery, an d A tlantis.

On A pril 12, 1981, the first Space Shuttle liftedoff from L aunch Complex 39, P ad A, at the KennedySpace Center (K SC ) in Cape C anaveral, Florida.After a two-day test flight, it landed at E dwards AirForce Base in C alifornia.

Looking at front view of the Space Shuttle, NASA's SpaceTransportation System


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T H EE N T E R P R I S E

In the Approach and L anding Test Program, the Enterpr ise is released from its piggyback p osition atop N ASA's m odified 747 to test howwell the spacecraft can glide to a runway landing after leaving orbit and returning to Earth.

By19 8 5 , all of the orbiters except for the Enterpr isehad made flights into space. Enterprise, the firstorbiter buil t, was ne ver intended to go into space.Instead it wa s designed as a test vehicle to be flow nin the atmosphere only, and w as buil t to be identi-cal to the future four orbiters in shape and w eight.Enterprise w as f i rs t used in the App roach andLanding Test (AL T) Program. NAS A m odified aBoeing 747 aircraft so that it could ferry Enterpriseon i ts back, and then also be used later to t ransportthe other Shu tt les from various parts of the U nitedStates to KSC .The A LT program involved a total of 14 fl ights.Five f l ights were made w ith an unm anned Enterpriseattached to the top of the 747. Two pilots thenflew inside of Enterprise w h e n it w as stil l attachedto the 747. So me o f the Shutt le 's f l ight system sw ere tested at this time. Du ring the last test flights,Enterprise was released from the 747 at an alti-tude of approximately 7.2 kilometers (24,000 feet),and the pilots onboard glided Enterprise to anunpow ered landing.

A ll of these tests were made at Edw ards A ir ForceBase in C al ifornia . The pu rpose was to s tudy theflight characteristics of the orbiter in the atmosphere.The airframe and the mechanical and electricalpar ts of the orbi ter were evaluated. The ALT t e s talso helped train controllers and ground crews.Enterprise w as also used for a series of vibrationtes ts a t N AS A's Marshal l Space Flight Center inHuntsvi lle , Alabama. At K SC , Enterprise was usedto test the Sh utt le m obile launch system. Enterprisewas then u sed in similar f i t checks at the new S hut-t le Launch Complex at Vandenburg A ir Force Base,California.NA SA gave the Space Shu t tle orbiter Enterpriseto the National Air and Space Museum on No-vember 19 , 1985 . The Enterprise is now located atthe D ul les International Airport near W ashington,D.C . Some day soon NA SM hopes to build a newmu se u m w h e r e t he Enterprise and other large air-craft will be exhibited.


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T H ES H U T T L EO R B I T E RS

The Shuttle's payload bay opened up

The orbiter is big! It is 37 m eters long (122 feet).From wing tip to wing tip it spans 24 meters (78feet). From the ground to the top of the verticalstabilizer, or tail, it stands 17 meters (57 feet) high.The orbiter is about the size of a D C- 9 airplane.The orbiter is divided into three main parts. Theforward part is called the crew module. It is wherethe crew m embers stay w hile in space. The m iddleof the orbiter is called the payload bay. This iswhere the payloads are stored that are being hauledinto space. A payload can be a satellite to be

deployed or instruments to view the Earth. Theback of the orbiter is where the Shuttle's threemain engines are located.The crew module is a three-section, pressurizedworking, living, and storage com partment. It is inthis forward part of the Shuttle that the cockpit,living quarters and experiment operator's stationsare located. This area of the S huttle is divided intothree levels: flight deck , mid-deck, and lower deck.The flight deck is where the commander andpilot fly the Shuttle. The crew can see be autiful


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I - IUIviews of Earth from the flight deck through an y ofthe six windshields, two overhead window s, or tworear-viewing payload bay windows.The crew m em bers must be w ell trained, sincethere are 2,020 separate displays and controls onthe f light deck for use during flight. The p ayloadsatel li tes and instruments in the p ayload bay areoperated from the b ack part of the flight deck.The m id-deck is the crew's home in space. It ison the mid-deck w here they prepare meals , usethe bathroom , and clean up. Sleeping quarters arealso on the mid-deck. Lo ckers are available on themid-deck for storage of small equipment andclothing.The crew members enter the left side of theorbiter through a 1-m eter (40-inch) circular hatch.Once in orbit, the astronauts work in space by goingthrough the airlock on the mid-deck. There is aladder on the m id-deck to get to the f l ight deck,but no one needs to use the ladder in space, be-cause you c an float to the flight deck.The lower deck is called the equipment bay.You get to the equipment bay through removablef loor panels. Various parts of the environm entalcontrol equipment are stored here. Wet trash isalso stored here.The pa yload bay in the middle of the orbiter is18.3 meters (60 feet) long and 4.6 meters (15 feet)wide. You could easily fit a school bus into thepayload bay for a trip to space. The orbiter cantransport up to 29,500 kilograms (65,000 pounds)of payload into orbit . It can bring back pa yloadsweighing up to 14,500 kilograms (32,000 poun ds).On ce in orbit, the two payload b ay doors mustbe open ed. Each door contains four radiator pan-els that expel the orbiter 's excess heat into space. Ifthe heat is not removed, the equipment in theorbiter becomes too hot and the mission wouldhave to be cu t short. A remote man ipulator system(RMS) arm is often included in the payload bay.You can use the arm to l i f t objects in and out ofthe payload bay. Before returning to Earth, thepayload bay doors m ust be closed.The rear of the orb iter contains the Shuttle mainengines, body flap, and vertical stabilizer. The threema in engines are fixed together to get the Sh uttleinto orbit. The body flap is used during reentry intoEarth's atmosphere to help protect the enginesfrom the extrem e heat of reentry. Wings located in

Flight deck

Mid-deck

Lower deck

The c rew module

the middle of the orbiter are used when the orb iteris returning from sp ace and traveling through theatmosphere. The vertical stabilizer consists of a struc-tural fin, which acts as a rudder and speed brak e.This rudder can b e used to steer the orbiter in aright or left direction in its flight through the atmo-sphere. Du ring landing the rudder can sp lit in halfto help slow down the orbiter.Electrical powe r for the Shuttle is produced b ythree fuel cells in the orbiter. The fuel cells usehydrogen and oxygen to generate electr icity. Allthree fuel cells are used during peak energy p owe rconditions. Only two fuel cells are used during min-imum power conditions. The fuel cells can pro-duce 15 to 20 kilowatts of power. Drinking water isan important by-p roduct of fuel cell operation.

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S O L I DR O C K E T IB O O S T E R S ..

As a solid rocket booster tails back to tarth, it is slowea tythree large parachutes. Because boosters are used many t imes,they must not fall too fast or they will be damaged when theyhit the ocean.I t takes a lot of energy to launch a spacecraf t intoorbit. The Shut tle uses i ts main engines and tw osolid rocket boosters (SRB s) to provide the thrustneeded to get to space. Thrust, often stated inpounds, is the force produced by the rocke ts. Onepound of thrust is equal to 22 horsepower.One SR B is at tached to each side of the externalfuel tank. Eac h one is a solid fuel rocket . (Fireworkrockets launched on the Fourth of July are alsosolid fuel rockets.) SRB fuel is a mixture of alumi-num and several other materials that help it burn.Eac h SRB produces 11.8 million neutrons (2.65million pounds) o f thrust. Each is 45.5 meters (149feet) tall and 3.6 meters (12 feet) wide. At launchan SR B weighs 590,000 kilogram s (1.3 millionpounds).The SRB s are fired only after the Shuttle's mainengines hav e started. They burn for about the firsttwo minutes of the f l ight . By the t ime the SR Bshave u sed all of their fuel, the Shutt le ha s gained45 kilometers (28 miles) in altitude.At this t ime the SRB s separate from the Shut t le.

They still have enough forward motion to carrythem up for anoth er 70 seconds. At the e nd of thist ime the SR Bs have reached an alt itude of 66 kilo-meters (4 1 miles). They then begin their fall intothe Atlantic Ocean. During the fastest par t of theirfall, the SR B s travel nearly 4,600 kilomet ers (2,900miles) per hour.It takes almost five minutes from the time theSRB s separate from the Shuttle for them to land inthe ocean. Three large parachutes slow the SRB sduring their fall to Earth. They hit the w ater at aspeed of 9 6 kilometers (60 miles) per hour, land-ing about 279 kilometers (169 miles) from the launchsite. Be cause the SR Bs are to be reused, they arerecovered by two sea tugs. They are then returnedto KSC, whe re they are cleaned up and refueledfor another flight.The Shutt le made 24 succ essful flights. Then,on Janua ry 28, 1986, during the 25th Shuttle flight,a seal on the right SRB ruptured and led to thetragic destruction of the orbiter Chal lenger . All sevencrew mem bers were killed. NASA a nd its contrac-tors hav e redesigned the seals, called 0-rings, usedbetween the segments of the solid rocket boostersso tha t no hot gas can now escape. This new de-sign will make the Shuttle a safer spacecraft systemfor future space travelers like yourself.

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ec otups retrieve Me 5huti!us otiu rui uuutrsafter they have exhausted their fuel and fallen back to Earth.They will be hauled back to shore for reuse on anotherShutt le f l ight.


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T H EE X T E R N A LUT A N K

tank. The tank

outsideearly flight.rd part of the tank curves to a point tomic drag. Its tip serves as a light-

The external tank c ontains the liquid fuels thaturing the first eightinutes of flight. The tank is the o nlyrt of the Shu ttle that is not reused. It is 47

huttle

The external fuel tank is carried to the Vehicle AssemblyBuilding in the background, where it will be joined to the twosolid rocket boosters and the orbiter.It weighs about 35,000 kilograms (78,000 pounds)wh en em pty. Full, the tank w eighs 755,787 kilo-grams (1,667,667 pounds).The Shuttle's three main engines bum large quan-tities of liquid oxygen a nd liquid hydrogen. In fac t,when completely fueled, the Shuttle contains541 ,000 liters (143,000 gallons) of liquid oxygenand 1 .45 m illion liters (383,000 gallons) of liquidhydrogen. These fuels have to be stored in thetank at very c old temperatures. Liquid oxygen 'sstorage temperature is -183 degrees Celsius (-297degrees Fahrenhe it), while hydrogen is -253 de-grees Celsius (-423 degrees Fahrenheit). The Fahr-enheit temperature scale is the tem perature scalethat is used in your home.A t launch the Shuttle uses about 63,600 li ters(16,800 gallons) of liquid oxygen and almost170,000 liters (45,000 gallons) of liquid hydrogeneach m inute. By burning these liquid fuels, eachmain engine can produce up to 1.7 million neu-trons (375,000 pounds) of thrust. B y the time themain engines shut dow n, the Shuttle has gained112 kilometers (70 miles) in altitude.The external tank is released from the Shuttle10 to 1 5 second s after the Shuttle's main enginesshut dow n. Once released , it begins to tumble. Itreenters Earth's atmosphere and breaks up. Piecesof the tank land in the Indian Oc ean 58 minuteslater.

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A S T R O N A U TT R A I N I N GA

Training at the Jo non Sp ace Flight Cen ter 's flight simulatorfor mission STS 7 are astronauts (left to r ight) RobertCrippen, Frederick Hauck, John Fab ian, and Sally Ride.

As a member of a flight crew, you would havelots of jobs to do ab oard the Shuttle. You w ould beput in charge of some aspect of the f light. As com-mander, for examp le, you w ould f ly the Shu t t leand be in charge of the m ission. If ass igned to b ethe pilot, you w ould as s is t the com mand er wi thf lying the spacecraft. As a m ission spe cialist, y o uwould be in charge of the experiments and pay-loads being carr ied aboard the Shut t le . The co m -mand er, pilot, and mission specialists work for N ASAMost Shut t le as t ronauts plan on going into spaceseveral t imes during their NAS A careers .From tim e to time, a scientist, engineer, or physi-cian who does not work for N ASA will take a fl ightin to space to oversee an exper im ent . These indi-vidua ls are called payload specialists. They con-duct experiments or observe the deployment of apayload for their sponsor. They will probably travelto space only once o r, at most, just a few times.You must receive training before you can gointo space. I t is not unu sual to begin training sev-era l years before f l ight t ime. Your job aboard theorbi ter de termines the type o f t ra ining you wouldreceive.Yo u wo uld probab ly t ra in in the various f l ights imula to r s a t NA SA 's Johnson Space C enter inH ouston, Texas. Y ou exper ience zero gravi ty by

f lying in a special NA SA aircraft cal led K C-135.During parts of the fl ight , you will briefly float infree fall around the inside of the aircraft.I f you are to wo rk outs ide the orbi ter in space,you w ould t ra in in a l a rge t ank of w ate r. The un-derwater world is very m uch like the world of space,and the astronauts practice their assignmen ts overand ove r again wearing their spacesuits in this hugetank . The com mand er and pi lot a lso use a Shut t let ra ining ai rcraf t to pract ice Shut t le approach andlanding procedures.Classroom instruction is another important partof training. During your studies, you learn all aboutthe Shut t le . Yo u also learn about guidan ce, navi-gat ion, the effects of microgravi ty on yo ur body ,and m any other related subjects.If you are to be a payload specialist, most ofyour t ra ining wo uld concern the payload you areto opera te . The com pany or o rgan izat ion tha t issending you up would coordinate most of yourtraining.Before you go into space, you would m ost cer-

Astronaut Rick Hauck trains for zero gravity aboard theKC-135. This airplane flies to a great altitude, then dive s sothat training astronauts ma y experience weightlessness.


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I II I_-III f To train for work outside the Shuttle in space, AstronautRichard Truly practices in the W eightless EnvironmentTraining Facility at the Johnson Space Center. This hugeswimm ing pool i s used because the underwater wor ld andthe wor ld of space are mu ch al ike. Ast ronauts master a l lEVA activities here before going into space.t a in ly a l so need to know abou t c rew ope ra t ions ,housekeeping, and Shut tle em ergency procedures .I t is a lso every a s tronau t 's respon sibi li ty to keephimse lf or herself in exce llent physical condition.Once assigned to a f l ight c rew, you wou ld t ra inw i th t h e o t h e r c r e w m e m b e r s t o p r e p a re f o r t h eflight. As training progresses, the crew and the flightcon trollers practice an entire mission in a joint train-i ng exe rc i se t ha t p roves eve ry th ing i s go fo r t hereal flight.

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G E T T I N GT oS P A C E

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(Jo/urn bia rises off Launch Pad 39 A tor it ,, second mission.This STS-2 m ission carried astronauts Joe Engle and R ichardTruly along with a payload of scientific experiments.

I magine yo u are a highly trained specialis t on you rf ir s t Sh u tt le f lig h t . A s a S h u tt le crew m ember y o uleave the ast ro naut quar ters fo r the S hut t le abo u ttwo ho urs before liftoff. Yo u enter the o rbiter throughthe 1-meter (40-inch) diam eter c i rcular hatch lo-cated on the left s ide o f the m id-deck.T he com ma nder, pi lo t , miss ion spec ialis t, andone payload specialist sit on the f light deck. Seatsfor three o ther crew members are located on themid-deck. A fter the crew is seated, you al l st rapyo ur s e lv e s in . Y o u a r e no w o n yo ur b a c k i n a r e -

dining seat awaiting launch. Y our he artbeat speedsup; the adventure is about to begin!T he last 30 minutes before launch is a busy t ime.E veryth in g m u st be ch eck ed ou t . Th e f ive com p u t-ers on boa rd are helping the crew to check all partsof the o rbiter, external tank, and solid rocket boo st-ers. Each of the computers can make nearly 325,000o pera t io ns each seco nd. T he crew wi l l depend o nthe computers throughout the whole mission.The final few seconds before liftoff look like this:


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U U-u1U

U. U About eight and on e-half minutes intothe flight, the main engines cut off. Thebig tank is released about 10 to 15

Weconds later. It breaks up and falls intothe Indian Ocean.t ip

About six and one-half minutes into flight,the Shuttle begins a long, shallow dive4 o prepare for external tank separation.Ahe Shuttle is now at 128 k ilometers (80miles) in altitude. At the end of the dive,U/he orbiter will be 115 kilometers (72H7iles) above Earth. All aboard the orbiterHill feel three Gs of acceleration. (Thepull of gravity is measured in Gs.)About two minutes into flight, the solidrocket boosters burn out. The orbiter isnow about 45 kilometers (28 miles) inalt itude. The SRB s separate seven sec-onds later and begin to fall into theAtlantic O cean. Abou t two minutes later, the OrbitalManeuvering System (OM S), the smallerengines inside that allow the orbiter tomove about in orbit, fire. This OMS burnwill continue for nearly two minutes. Atthe end of the burn, the orbiter will be inan elliptical orbit around Earth.

The Shuttle vibrates and shakes, andthe crew can h ear lots of metallic bangsand clanks.About 70 seconds into flight, the orbiterreaches maximum dyn amic pressure.

THE CREW IS ON ITS WAY !

If they are working properly, the solidrocket boosters fire about one-third of asecond before liftoff. Three and one-halfseconds later, the orbiter clears the launchtower.About six seconds before liftoff, the threeShuttle main engines start.

Approxima tely 45 minutes after launch,the OMS e ngines fire again to place theorbiter in a nearly circular orbit about320 kilometers (200 miles) above Earth.IMAGINE! YOU ARE NOW IN ORBIT!

RA I*10

Once in orbit, it is important to open the pay-load bay doors to get rid of the orbiter's excessheat.It's time now to stow the crew seats and get towork. But in addition to working, Shuttle astro-nauts must know how to accomplish all the every-day tasks of life. Because y ou m ay wish to join aShuttle crew som e year in the future, let's look atlife on board an orbiting Shuttle spacecraft.

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O R B IT IN G INT H E W O R L D O F W E I G H T L E S S N E S SYour Shuttle launch into space will be fromKennedy Space C enter in Florida, which borderson the Atlantic Ocean. Because the Shuttle willlaunch over the Atlantic, nearby comm unities arein no danger f rom a possible accident.Your path around and above E arth is called anEarth orbit. For the S huttle to orbit Earth, it musttravel at nearly 8 kilometers (5 miles) per second.The velocity needed to orbit Earth decrea ses thefarther you get from Earth. This is because the pullof Earth's gravity decreases as you move awayfrom our planet.For an a ltitude aboveE arth of Velocity required is160 km (100 ml) 7.76 km (4.85 mi) a second320 km (200 ml) 7.66 km (4.79 mi) a second35,680 km (22,300 mi) 2.86 km (1.79 mi) a second

The farther you travel from E arth, the longer ittakes to complete one orbit:For 160 meters (100 miles), it takes 88 minutes.For 320 m eters (200 miles), it takes 91 minutes.For 33,450 meters (22,300 miles), it takes 24 hours.From an altitude of 480 kilometers (300 miles),you can see the entire United States from coast tocoast. At this altitude it will take you about 12m inutes to cross the United States in the orbiter.Som e types of orbits that you should be familiarwith are circular, geosynchronous, elliptical, andpolar.A circular orbit is one in wh ich your distanceabove the surface of Earth remains constant.

A geosynchronous orbit is one in which a space-craft orbits 35,680 k ilometers (22,300 m iles) abovethe equator in a circular orbit. From Earth, thespacecraft seems to remain fixed in the sky, be-cause the spacecraft goes around Earth in the sameamount of time as Earth turns on its axis.In an elliptical orbit your distance above Earth'ssurface is not constant. Whe n you are at perigee,you are at the closest point in your orbit above theEarth's surface. At apogee you are at the mostdistant point in your orbit.If you fly around the Earth in a polar orbit, youpass over Earth near the north and south poles.How far the orbiter passes north or south of theequator depends on your launch angle. A due eastlaunch from KSC would put you in an orbit in-clined 28.5 degrees to the equator.Because the crew m ust make sure that the solidrocket boosters and external tank will not hit landupon reen try, there is a limit to how far north orsouth you can launch. From K SC, launch to thenorth is limited to the southeast portion of New -foundland; launch to the south is limited to theBaham a Islands. Because of these restrictions, thefarthest north or south that the orbiter can travelfrom a launch at KSC is 57 deg rees above or be-low the equator.Before you even enter the orbiter, however, youwill have to put on y our space suit. First you getinto a cooling and v entilation garm ent that lookslike long unde rwear w ith plastic tubing sew n in.W ater will f low through the tubing to keep you

0A circular orbit geosynchronous orbit n elliptical orbit p o l a r o r b i t


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UI.111!!Obj ects not hold doon fl at around insidc ti cubtiwith the Shuttle in orbit, its forward motion exactly counterbalances the downward pull of Earth's gravity. Weightlessnessoccurs because o f this state of free fall.

cool. The open fabric weav e also permits ventila-tion to the body.The Shuttle suit itself comes in two parts. Firstyou put on the trouser assembly. Then you areready to put on the upp er part of the suit. At thistime you co nnect the cooling and ven tilation gar-ment to the p ortable life support system . This sys-tem, which y ou carry into the orbiter, provides ox enand suit pressurization until you are in orbit. It alsocools and c irculates the w ater used in the coolingand ventilation garment.If you are orbiting Earth in the Shuttle orbiter,you a re really just falling around E arth. You are ina continuous free fall, similar to diving off a divingboard. W hen yo u are falling, you are in a weight-less condition. Sometimes this is referred to as zerogravity, or zero G.You will find the w orld of weightlessness a lot offun. One of the first things that you w ill notice, ofcourse, is how things float around, including you!Your arms float away from y our body and y ou areslightly bent at the w aist, with y our knees flexedand y our toes pointing a bit.Y ou will have to learn to push yo urself gentlytoward som ething to hold onto. Jobs that are sim-ple on Earth usually take longer and req uire more

energy in space. This is because it is difficult toremain in one spot, and you must keep track ofyour tools, which can easily float away.You will also notice some physical changes toyour bod y. Bod y fluids will shift from you r lowerbody to your upper body. Because of the fluidshifts in your body , you w ill notice that you do notget thirsty. Y our face will become puffy and youmay get the sniffles. At the same time your legs willget thinner. Yo u may find yourself not functioningat 100 percent capacity during the first three day sin orbit. You w ill probably grow a few cen timeters(an inch or so) in height. But don't worry. Y ou willreturn to normal on your return to Earth.

A secinlithicstronaut. l)ale Gardner, hoots alongwith other items inside the Shuttle cabin.

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E A T I N GI NS P A C E L LIM

The Sliunle dinner plate is an aluminum tray that can fastento crew m ember's leg or to a wall . The tray holds several foodpackages in place so that astronauts can dine on m ore thanone item at the same time.

Meal t ime g ives crew mem bers a chance to re laxand vis i t. Three one-hour m eal per iods a re sched-uled each day fo r ea t ing and c leanup . The c rewusually eats on the mid-deck.The Shu t t le dinner p la te is a lot di fferent f romthe one you use on Earth. Each item of food ispackaged sepa ra te ly . The food package i s some-w hat r ig id , and the base can serv e as a bow l . Thetop of the package is covered by a see- through l id .These packages a re p laced in an a luminum t ray .Dur ing the mea l , the t ray can be s t rapped to yo ur

leg or to a w a l l. The t ray prevent s the food pack-ages from floating away du ring the meal.Eat ing f rom your t ray abo ard the o rb i te r is a l -mo st like eating at hom e. Eating uten sils include aknife , fork, and spoon. Yo u m ust , how ever , dr inkyour bev erages w i th a s t raw. Sc issors a re used tocut open some of the food packages. After them eal , the u tens il s and t ray a re c leaned w i th w etw ipes . Utens i ls, tray, and t rash must be s tow ed be-fore returning to work.Everyone takes turns prepar ing m eals . There isno k i tchen on the orb i t e r . Ins tead , the m ea l s a reprepared a t the gal ley ins ta l led on the m id-deck.The galley has hot and cold water, an oven forwarm ing some o f t he food packages , and a p l aceto stow the m eal t rays.The g alley also contains packages of catsup, mus-tard, ma yonnaise, taco sauce, and hot pepper sauce.Salt and pepp er are also available. In space you do

Food trayslb

Convect ion oven

W a t e r d i s p e n s e r

Condiment tray

Galley hygiene stat ion

The all-in-one galley aboard the o rbiter


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UUU-- UUnot use a salt or pepper shake r. Dropper bottles ofliquid salt and peppe r are used instead. Your senseof taste may diminish. Most astronauts have re-ported that beverages often taste sw eeter to themin space than they did on E arth.At the top o f the galley is a pantry. The foo d inthe pantry is most often used for snac ks and bev-erages between meals. Food for each day is storedin a food locker. Each food package is identified bya colored dot. Each crew member is assigned adifferent colored dot for the mission.Some fresh foods are taken into space. Theseinclude such items as bread, fruit, and carrot andcelery sticks. They mu st be eaten d uring the firstfew days in orb it, because they will not stay fresh.There is no refrigerator or freezer on the o rbiter.All food, therefore, must be precooked or processedso that i t doe s not req uire refrigeration. The foodpackages are either ready to eat or can be pre-pared simply by adding w ater or by heating.Some of the foods are freeze-dried. This meansthat the water was removed from the food beforelaunch. During the fl ight, water is added ba ck tothe food just before it is eaten.The weight of the food and the food packagesfor one day is almost three and-a-half pounds an dwill give you abo ut 2,800 calories of food eac hd a y .Food preparations start 30 to 60 minutes beforemealtime. The meal pac kages are taken from thefood locker. Water is added according to direc-t ions. Foods to be heated are placed in the oven.Finally each crew member's food packages areplaced in his or her tray.It's time to eat.

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Astronaut Joe Allen. on STS-5, forces orange drink outof a beverage container through the straw. L iquids formspherical shapes if they are allowed to float freely in space.

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Y O U RB A T H R O O M UI N S P A C E U

Mission specialist Richard Muh ariv shaves in preparation forpostflight press conference.

I t is as important to keep clean in space as it is onEarth. O n the orbiter you clean up at what is know nas the personal hygiene station, w hich is on themid-deck near the hatch where the crew enters theorbiter. It has a light, mirror, and a handw ashingenclosure.In the weightless world of space, w ater formsdroplets and floats around. It does not go dow n adrain as it does on Earth. For this reason, you musttake sponge baths in space. You m ust also use thehandw ashing enclosure w hen cleaning your hands.For the seven-day stay in space, you w ill get sevenwashcloths and three towels.Each crew m em ber has a personal hygiene kit.A kit might include a razor and shaving cream (formen only), stick deodorant, nail clippers, comb andbrush, dental floss, toothbrush, toothpaste, and soap.A fter brushing your teeth, you m ust either swal-low your toothpaste or spit it into a towel. Rem em-ber, there is no sink. If y ou have long hair, do notbe surprised if it points in every direction or floatsabout.There are privacy curtains you can close w hileusing the hygiene station or the waste collectionsystem (W CS ), a fancy way of describing the orbit-er's toilet. It is located in a closet on the othe r sideof the hatch from the hy giene station. It looks simi-

lar to the ones back on E arth. How ever, it does notuse w ater. Instead, airstreams draw w aste matteraway. Another difference is that there are separatewaste collection systems for liquid and solid w astes.The toilet is used in the same m anner as the oneonboard a jet airliner. In space, however, you m ustuse a seat belt to hold yourself on to the seat.There are also handholds as w ell as foot restraintsfor your use.PI'

1View of the orbiter's bathroom


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S L E E P I N GI NS P A C Ebed. Some crew m embers have slept in the com-mand er and pilot's seats on the flight deck. Mostoften the crew mem bers use sleeping bags calledsleep restraints. You w ould probably want to tieyour sleep restraint to something so that you d onot float around during the night. If you do nottuck your arm s into the sleep restraint, they tend tofloat out in front of you. There is no up or down soyou can sleep in any direction. You must stow yourpersonal belongings, or they will drift off during thenight.

The sleeping statfu. riiifIcck Atri.it 'cnnnari F.Thagard sleeps while his arms float outward and away fromhim. In space, anything not held down, including arms, floats.After a long day working on Shuttle, all crewmem bers look forward to a good night's sleep. Onmost flights, the entire crew goes to bed at thesame time. How ever, during Spacelab missions,some of the crew will stay up to operate the lab.If you participate in a Shuttle mission some day,do not expect to get mu ch sleep during your firstnight in space. The excitem ent of the launch andyour first day in orbit will probably keep you awake.By the second or third night, however, you'll sleepnormally.You r schedule will allow you up to eight hoursof sleep a night. Forty-five minutes are included toget ready for bed. Anothe r forty-five minutes areallowed for you to get dressed and cleaned up inthe morning.During each 90-minute orbit, the sun rises andsets two times. F or this reason, the fluorescent lightsare left on all the time. Because the orbiter is nevercompletely dark, the orbiter is equipped with win-dow shades and sleep mask s to keep the light outof your eyes while you are sleeping. Ear plugs arealso available to reduce the noise of the orbiter.If everyone does go to bed at the same time, atleast one person has to wear a comm unicationscarrier to hear the ground ca lls. If an emerg encywere to occur during the night, you would hear thecaution-and-warning alarms go off.Because you float in orbit, you do not need a

Bct use there is no up or down in ifenvironment of orbit, astronauts can sleep in any orientationthey choose. Ear plugs and eyeshades are available to blocknoise and light.

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D R E S S I N GF O RS P A C EDressing for space flight in the orbiter is not easyeven though in the Earth-like pressure andtemperature inside the orbi ter , as tronauts do n otneed to w ear spa cesui ts . Ins tead, they wear verycomfortab le clothes. Howeve r, if you're not carefulwhile dressing, you can start spinning.All of the clothing, except for the underwear, isdesigned for use by both sexes. Crew members donot chan ge their ent i re wardrobe each day. Theyonly change their underwear daily. Socks andshirts are chang ed every three days. Trousers aregood for se ven days. Only one jacket is issued forthe flight.Both the jacket and t rousers are cobal t blue incolor. Cotton kn it shirts are navy blue, with shortsleeves. The jacket and trousers have many pock-ets for carrying personal i tems such as p ens , pen-cils, and scissors. The pockets do not ha ve buttons.Instead, they close with either zippers or V elcro.Putt ing o n your t rousers in space wil l be a lotdifferent than on Earth. You pick up both yourfeet , bend bo th of your knees tow ard your s tom-ach, hold the trousers out from your body, andpush your feet down both legs at once!Clothing a nd many other sma ll i tems used dur-ing the fl ight are stored in lockers w ith insertabletrays. Almost all of the lockers are on the mid-deck. Each t ray is packed so that no i tem co versanother unless the i tems are a l ike. Inside dimen-

The flight suit has many pockets and compartments to holdpens, equipment, and personal belongings. Pockets aresecured with zippers or Velcro.

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Clothing for Shuttle astronauts is casual and includes shorts,soft slippers, and socks. All clothing is designed to b e wornby both s exes .sions of the trays are 20 x 43 x 5 centimeters (10 x17 x 20 inches). The contents of each locker isl is ted on the door. Each locke r can h old up to 27kilograms (60 po unds).

A m edical kit is s tored aboard the mid-deck o fthe orb i ter . I t contains bandage s as we l l as medi-cines such as pi l ls and ointments . The crew ha saccess to a doctor a t any t ime by us ing the co m-munications network to Ea rth. On several f l ights,astronauts have reported mild headaches. Doc torshad them take aspir in from the medical kit. Equip-ment is also on bo ard to treat very sick or injuredcrew membe rs until they ca n return to Earth.


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Ut

S E E I N G , H E A R I N G ,. N D E X E R C IS IN G- IN S P A C E

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Earth seen from the Space Shuttle is an overpowering sightWhite cloud tops swirl above the blues of water and the reds,greens yellows, and browns of land formation.

You m ight be wondering how well you can see inspace. A fter all, the fluid shifts in your body m ightchange the shape of your eyes and requireeyeglasses. Rest assured. If you do no t wear glasseson Ea rth, you will not need them in space .You will be able to see stars out o f the orbiter'swindows. Because you are looking at them fromabove the Earth's atmosphere, the stars do nottwinkle, and surprisingly, may appea r a bit smallerto you than if you were seeing them from E arth.Earth looks majestic from space. Y ou will see itpainted with all sorts of beautiful colors. The vari-ous blues of the oceans and the greens and brownsof the mountains are spectacular. You can seeweather formations and p ossibly forest fires. Youcan see the contrails of airplanes and the w akes ofships as w ell. Lightning in thun derstorms is excit-ing to watch. Yo u w ill have to be careful not tospend all your time watching these m arvels of nature.You may hav e no problem seeing, but what abouthearing? You will be able to hear well in the or-biter. Because of fluid shifts, however, you w ill prob-ably talk with more of a nasal twang. Other peop lewill say you sound different.

Being in space is also like having to stay in bedfor a long time on Earth. Therefore, to prevent

your heart from w eakening, you must exercise eachday that you are in space. E xercising in space is alot different than exercising on Earth. In orbit it iseasy to do one-hand push-up s, or l ift 459.6 kilo-grams (1,000 pounds). Exercising in space requiresspecial equipment. You must use the exercise tread-mill made from ap iece of teflon. After you attachthe treadmill to a floor or wall, you mu st put on aspecial belt and shoulder harness. The belt andshoulder harness w ill hold you dow n so that youcan run in p lace on the treadm ill . The tension inthe harness can be adjusted to make you workharder.For m issions less than seven days long, you sh ouldexercise 15 minutes each day . For longer missions,you should exercise 30 minutes a day.

Daily exercise is important to keep fit. Joe Lnorks out ona treadmill designed with a restraining belt for exercising inspace.

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; _ \ \

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Ammom -

W O R K I N GI N S I D E

T H E O R B I T E Rflight deck. Here they hav e all the necessary con-trols. You can see a payload in the payload baythrough one of four windows or by watch ing thetelevision screen. The com mander or pilot can alsofly the orbiter from the back p art of the orbiter.From here the orbiter can be pointed in the properdirection for a spe cial payload operation.To operate some of the payloads, you mighthave to use the remote m anipulator system ( R M S ) .The RM S is a mechanical arm 15 meters (50 feet)long contributed to the Shuttle program by Can-ada. It can move objects in and out of the payloadbay. The RM S is operated from the back part ofthe flight deck.

Housekeeping is essential in space, and includes emptyingthe trash. Jack Lousm a, STS-3 crew com mander, is shownhere with almost a week's trash in the mid-deck area aboardColumbia.

During a Sh uttle m ission, you would have tasksto do during all your waking hours. You wouldspend som e of your tim e keeping the orbiter cleanand in operational condition. Everyone helps withsuch housekeeping chores.During the flight, the crew takes turns runningthe vacuum cleaner to clean the orbiter and thevarious air filters. The trash w ill need to be em p-tied. The equipm ent in the galley and waste man-agem ent areas will need to be wiped dow n. Oneimportant job is changing the carbon dioxide ab-sorbers, which filter the carbon dioxide from therecirculated air to keep the air fresh.Most of your w orking time would be devoted toconducting experiments. For some of the exp eri-m ents the only thing that the crew h as to do is turnthe experiments on and off. Som e experime nts willbe done on the mid-deck, others in the payloadb a y .Crew m em bers must also deploy satellites intospace from the orbiter. These payloads have beenplaced in the payload bay by ground crews beforethe flight. The crew m em bers responsible for thesepayloads w ill work from the back portion of the

Wel lM a i ' I L

}!:\LI 11On Space1l I .experiment using the laboratory's gradient heating facility.


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U UP A C E L A B USpacelab is a scientific laboratory that rides inside the S huttlecargo bay. Here Spacelab sc ient i st s per form exper imentsthat rely on the weightless environmen t of orbit . Suchexperiments might be making extremely pure medicines,growing nearly perfect crystals , or mixing materials that areunmixable under the pressure of gravity of Earth.

Som e Shu tt le f l ights wil l include a labo ratory cal ledSpac e lab in the pay load b ay . Space lab i s a j o in tventure of the Europea n Space Agenc y (ESA) andNASA ESA bu i lt the Spacelab , and NASA launchesand operates it. Spacelab will be used by manypayload spe c ia l is t s f rom the U ni ted Sta tes and Eu-ropean nations.Sp ace lab i s m ad e u p o f p ressu r ized m o d u les aswell as unpressurized palle ts . The pressurized m od-u le s have the s ame t emp era tu re and a i rp re s su reas the orbiter. You can w ork in your shirts leeves inthe pressur ized m odule . The long mo dule i s 7 me-ters (23 feet) long and 4 meters (13 feet) wide.T h e p a l l e t s a r e p l a tfo rm s w h ich exp er im en t s an di n s trumen ts can be a t t ached . You mu s t don yourspacesu it to work w ith anything on the pallet .T h e p a r t s o f S p a c e l a b c a n b e a r r a n g e d i n s e v -

eral d i f feren t wa ys. Three bas ic ar rangeme nts areused . They are module-only , module-p lus-pal le t ,and pa llet-only.Yo u canno t en te r Spac e lab un t i l you a re in o r -bit. To do so, you go through a tunnel from theai r lock. Spacelab w i ll be avai lab le 24 hours a dayt o s tudy a l l so r ts o f th ings . Yo u can p ho tographthe sun and distant stars with different kinds ofte lescopes . You can m ake measurem ents o f Ear th 'satmosphe re and pollut ion condit ions or study Earth 'ssurface by do ing remote sensing of Earth 's resources.Y o u c a n p l o t t h e w e a t h e r o n a w o r l d w i d e s c a le .You can make pure metals and alloys or studyliving organisms.One o f the g rea t th ings abou t Space lab i s tha t

e x p e r i m e n t e r s o n t h e g ro u n d c a n w o r k w i t h t h ecrew as they perform exper iments in space .21


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W O R K I N GO U T S I D ET H E O R B I T E R4= 2""M0 0

I I

Before going on an E VA, an astronaut mu st don a space suitin an air lock inside the Shuttle. Bruce M cCandless preparesfor his spacewalk on STS-41 -B.

Your Shu ttle crew m ight have jobs to do outsidethe orbiter as well as inside. You might hav e toretrieve a satellite near the orbiter and bring it tothe payload bay for return to Earth, or repair it andreturn it to orbit. This typ e of w ork is called extra-vehicular activity (EVA).O utside the orbiter is space - very harsh worldin which to work. You no longer have the orbiter toprotect you from its dangers.In space, the side of your body facing the suncould reach temperatures of up to 121 degreesCelsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit) if not protected.A t the same time, your shady side could be a chill-ing -101 degrees Celsius (-150 degrees F ahren-heit). You would have no air to breathe. In thevacuum of sp ace, your blood would boil and turnto gas. You must guard against harmful ultravioletradiation from the sun. A micrometeroid might hityou. You can see, of course, why you would wear aspaces uit to work in space. The Shuttle spacesuitand the back part that provides life support is prop-erly referred to as the extravehicular m obility un it(EMU) .

A bout three hours before your scheduled EV A ,you would begin breathing pure oxygen. Youdo this to remove the nitrogen from your blood sothat you will not get the bends. The bends is acondition where gas bubbles collect in your jointsand blood. It can kill you.A bout 30 minutes prior to EV A , you would enterthe Shuttle in airlock. The airlock is located on themid-deck. It is 1.6 m eters (63 inches) wide and 2.1meters (83 inches) tall and has two pressure-sealinghatches. The spacesuits are stowed here.Now you are ready to don your suit once more.This time you strap the p ortable life support sys-tern on you back so you hands are free to work ins p a c e .Now you must check out your suit by closing theftttch to the mid-dec k and rem oving the air frome airlock. If the suit checks out, you ca n open theouter hatch and enter the payload bay to beginy our walk in space. Th e display u nit will tell you thestatus of your oxygen supply and suit pressure, aswell as the time elapsed since your EV A began.

Some E V A s may require the use of the mannedm aneuver ing un i t (MM U) . The MM U a l lows as-tronauts to jet from the orb iter to a nearby sa tellite.Nitrogen gas is used to propel the M M U. W ith the

Outside the Shuttle , astronauts work in protective space suits.Here, F. Story M usgrave (left) and Donald H. P eterson (right)work in the cargo b ay, their movement restricted by tethers.

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Wearing an M MU, D ale Gardner propels himsel f to thenearby W estar IV satell ite, which needs repair. The satell ite' i1l be retrieved, placed in the cargo bay, an d returned toEarth, where it will be fixed.

U UE U U UUM M U, the operator can turn in any d i rec t ion .You would have enough oxygen to work out-side of the orbiter for at least 7 hours and 18m inutes . Most tasks are accompl ished in m uch lesst ime . Once you have f in ished your EVA , you reen-ter the orbi ter throug h the outer hatch . Af ter cbs-ing the outer hatch, you can repressurize the air lockand rem ove your spacesu it .

The M MU gives an as t ronaut f reedom to explore areasoutside the cargo bay. Bruce McC andless fl ies his MMUunte thered and in comple te control of h is movem ents .

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E A R T HTo aU. U

R E T U R N I N G

Columbia returns hom e after i ts f i rst f light . The landing isnear ly perfect as commander Thom as Mat t ing ly and pi lo tHenry H ar t sf ie ld se t down a t Edwards A i r Force Base inCalifornia.

After a typical mission of seven days, the crewwill have f inished a l l its tasks. If you w ere on board,you would take one last look at beautiful Earthf rom sp ace. I t 's t ime now to get ready for yo ur t r iph o m e . A b o u t t w o h o u r s b e fo r e l a n d in g , y o u w i l lreturn to your seat .Once the payload bay doors are closed andlocke d, the orb iter is turne d to point tai l f i rst in i tsorbit . The reaction control system (RCS ) eng inesa r e u s ed t o d o t h is . Th es e en g i n es a r e l o c a t ed a tthree p laces o n the orb i te r . One se t i s a t the f rontb e t w een t h e n o s e an d t h e f li g h t d ec k . Th e o t h e rtwo se t s a re o n th e o rb i ta l m an eu ver in g po d s . Th eRCS engines can make the orbiter turn in anydirection in space; these turns are called pitch,roll, and yaw m aneuvers.About 60 minutes beforelanding, theOMS engines fire for two to three min-utes . This burn slow s the orbiter dow nabout 320 kilometers (200 miles) perhour. Using the RCS, the orbiter turnsonce again so that its nose is pointingforward.

Twenty-three minutes to touchdown,your speed is 24,000 kilometers (15,000miles) per hour. The elevons can nowalso control the pitch motion of theorbiter.

It is almost 30 minutes to landing. Youare now about 122 kilometers (76 miles)in altitude and traveling 27,360 kilome-ters (17,100 miles) per hour. The orbiterhas a thermal protection system thatwithstands the high temperature condi-tions in space and the searing heatofreentry. The system consists of two typesof heat t i les that p rovide sp ecial insul-ation. In just f ive minu tes , you w il l be 94kilometers (59 miles) above the Earthand traveling at a speed of 26,720 kilo-meters (16,700 miles) per h our. At th istime a communications blackout begins.The blackout is caused by ionizing par-ticles surrounding the orbiter as the heatt i les reflect the h eat up on reenteringthe atmosphere. Once the orbiter is with-in th e atmosph ere, the elevons on th ewings can control the roll motion ofthe orbiter.

You begin your reentry w ith the orbiter'snose pointing up at an angle between28 and 38 d egrees. With just a l it tle over30 minutes to landing, you inflate youranti-G suit . This suit preven ts you fromfainting during reentry. Remem ber, atliftoff you w ere lying on your back. Du ringreentry you are s i tting up right in yourseat. If you d o not use you r anti-G suit ,b lood w ould drain from your h ead to thelow er part of your body w hen you leavethe weightlessness of space, and youw ould black out .


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-= N.iN. U U UI.IAt 16 minutes to landing, the orbitermak es its first S-turn. S-turns reduce liftand slow dow n the orbiter.

NUNN

It is now 12 minutes to touchdown. Theorbiter leaves the comm unications blackout. You are now 54 kilometers (34 m iles)above Earth and traveling 13,240 kilo-meters (8,275 m iles) per hour. The sec-ond S-turn is made. Another S-turnwill be made at seven m inutes beforelanding.

It is now 20 minutes to touchdown. Youare 80 kilometers (50 miles) above Earth.The outside of the orbiter is now as hotas it will ever be. The nose and leadingedges of the w ings are nearly 1,300 de-grees Celsius (2,300 degrees Fahrenheit).

1 t ^ 4ith six minutes to go, you are traveling

at 3.3 times the speed of sound. Th eorbiter has dropped to 27 kilometers (17miles) in altitude. In 30 seconds the or-biter will make another S-turn. The or-biter continues to slow dow n. You arenow trave ling at 2.5 times the speed ofsound at 26 kilometers (16 miles) abovethe surface of the Earth.0aAkMi & z- V , jS H I XDuring the last two minutes of flight, aspecial landing system w ill help guide theorbiter to the runway. Thirty seconds togo. The orbiter has slowed to 5 60 kilo-meters (350 miles) per hour and is 600meters (2,000 feet) above the ground.The orbiter's nose is pulled up so that theglide angle will be one and one-halfdegrees. The landing gear is released 14seconds before touchdown. The orbiter'sspeed is now 530 kilometers (330 miles)per hour. The orbiter is now only 27meters (90 feet) up.

The orbiter moves at the speed of soundat three minutes before landing. Youare now at nearly 15.2 kilometers (9.5miles) in altitude. By using the rudderon the tail, the pilot can steer the orbiterin a right or left direction.

At touchdown you are traveling 344 kilo-meters (215 m iles) per hour. The com-mander or pilot use the speed brake andwhee l brakes to slow the orbiter. Theorbiter lands on a long runway. It is 4,500meters (15,000 feet) long and 90 m eters(300 feet) wide.

Own

490elcome home! Before the crew can leave theorbiter, all of its systems must be turned off. A t thesame time, a ground crew arrives to hook up equip-men t to cool the orbiter. Abo ut 30 minutes afterlanding, you will be ready to leave.A ground crew will take the orbiter to KSC'sO rbiter Processing Facility.CO NGRATULATIONS O N CO MPLETING A GOO D FLIGHT!

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S H U T T L EF L I G H TF A C T S

The first Space Shuttle. Columb ia , majestically poised onLaunch Pad 39-A on the even ing before its f irst f light-readiness firing.

Between 19 81 and 1986, the Shuff le was launched25 times, with Chal lenger l aunched the m os t o f -ten . Together a l l four shuff les orbi ted Earth for atotal of 152 days. They completed 2,435 orbitsand t raveled a lm ost 96 m i ll ion ki lom eters (60 m i l-lion miles).SHUTTLE NUMBER OF LAUNCHES

Chal lenger 1 0Co lumb ia 7Discovery 6Atlantis 2

Total launches 25Dur ing the 25 m iss ions , the S huf f le launched132 p eople into space , wi th 27 r iding the Shuff lem ore than once . Bo th men and wom en have takenpart in the flights. Som e of the pay load spe cial istshave been from foreign countr ies , dem onstrat ingNASA's cooperation with other countries. Thetwenty-fifth flight, STS 51-L, ended in tragedy, claim-

ing the lives of all seven crew m em bers.A spec ia l com m iss ion appo in ted by the Pres i-dent invest iga ted the accident . NA SA then imm e-

_ U

dia te ly se t to work to des ign a safer so lid rocketbooster so that future Shuttle flights can be launchedwithou t s im i lar m al funct ions . It m us t a lways beremem bered that space f light requires special train-ing and will always be accom panied by som e risks.But the r isks are wor th the accom plishm ents . Thiscountry w ill always need professionals who are readyto work in space.The following table gives mo re information aboutthe Shuffle flights. The first colum n gives the m is-s ion , nam e of the Shuf f le used , and da tes o f theflight. Note that the first nine flights are listed ST S-1,2, through STS-9.With the tenth f l ight that was launch ed, a newsystem is used to ident i fy each m ission. No te tha tthe f l ight i s l is ted as ST S 41-B. Th e f i rs t num ber ,4, refers to the f iscal year of the scheduled launch.The go vernm ent 's f isca l year is f rom October 1through Septem ber o f the next ca lendar year . Sothe launch w as scheduled fo r som et im e be tweenOctober 1, 1983 and September 30, 1984. In-deed , ac tual launch d ate for STS 41-B w as Febru-ary3, 1984.The 1 te ll s you tha t the launch was m ade f romthe Kennedy Space Center. The B tells you thatthis was the second Shuffle f light scheduled duringFiscal Year 1984. (The first Shuffle scheduled forthat f iscal year , STS-10, wa s cance l led. ) No ticetha t the schedu led n ex t f ligh t i s STS 41-C. Thele tte r s don ' t a lway s run in o rder because launchdates sometimes are changed. The second col-um n o f n um b e rs te ll s y o u ho w m a n y c r e w m e m -bers were onbo ard a flight.The next three co lum ns g ive you the l eng th o fthe m ission in day s, hours , and m inutes. The land-ing site appears next. The last column containscom m ents about the miss ion .This i s you r int roduct ion to the Shuff le f l ights .To find m ore information, you w ill have to visit thel i b r a r y .


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S H U T T LE S C H E D U L EN o.in N o.of Length of Flight LandingFlight Crew Orbits Days Hours Min Site Comments

STS-1 Columbia 2 36 2 6 21 Edwards AFB, CA First shuttle flight; first flight of Columbia04/12/81 - 04/14/81STS-2 Columbia 2 36 2 6 13 Edwards AFB, CA First operation of RMS arm; first scientific

11/12/81 - 11/14/81 payload ( O S T A - 1 )STS-3 Columbia 2 12 9 8 4 49 Northrop Str ip Landed one day late due to flooding at03/22/82 - 03/30/82 U.S. Army White Sands primary landing siteMissile Range, NMSTS-4 Columbia 2 11 2 7 1 9 Edwards AFB, CA First landing on concrete runway; final06/27/82 - 07/04/82 orbital test flight; first DOD payload

STS-5 Columbia 4 81 5 2 14 Edwards AFB, CA First commercial satellite launches11/11/82- 11/16/82

STS-6 Chal lenger 4 80 5 0 2 4 Edwards AFB, CA First flight of Chal lenger ; launched new04/04/83 - 04/09/83 class of tracking satellite (TRDS-1)

STS-7 Chal lenger 5 98 6 2 2 4 Edwards AFB, CA First American woman in space06/18/83 -06/24/93

STS-8 Chal lenger 5 98 6 1 9 Edwards AFB, CA First black American in space; shuttle08/30/83 - 09/05/83 night-launch and landing

STS-9 Columbia 6 1 48 1 0 7 47 Edwards AFB, CA First flight of Spacelab 1, two-shifts, round-11/28/83 - 12/08/83 the-clock science operations; West Germanpayload specialistfirst non-Americancrew member

STS-41-B Chal lenger 5 12 7 7 2 3 16 Kennedy Space Center, FL First Kennedy Space Center landing;02/03/84 -02/11/84 first use of MMU during EVA; two satellitesdeployed, failed to achieve orbit

STS-41-C Chal lenger 5 10 7 6 2 3 41 Edwards AFB, CA Highest STS operating altitude to date,04/06/84 -04/13/94 498 km (301 mi); crew retrieved andrepaired Solar Max satellite

STS-41-D Discovery 6 97 6 0 5 6 Edwards AFB, CA First "frisbee" satellite deployment; first08/30/84 - 09/05/84 commercial payload specialist; first flightof Discovery

STS-41-G Chal lenger 7 13 3 8 5 2 4 Kennedy Space Center, FL First American woman to perform EVA;10/05/84 - 10/13/84 first 7-person crew; first Canadian in space

S T S - 5 1 - A Discovery 5 127 7 2 3 45 Kennedy Space Center, FL Retrieved and returned disabled satellites11/08/84- 11/16/84 from orbitSTS-51-C Discovery 5 48 3 1 33 Kennedy Space Center, FL DOD mission1 2 4 / 85 - 1 / 27 / 8 5STS-51-D Discovery 7 10 8 6 2 3 5 5 Kennedy S pace C enter, FL First nonspecialist passenger; "Toys in04/12/85 -04/19/95 Space" mission

STS-51-B Chal lenger 7 1 1 0 7 0 9 Edwards AFB, CA Carried two monkeys, 24 rats in Spacelab 304/29/85 - 05/06/85 flight

S T S - 5 1 - G Discovery 7 1 1 2 7 1 39 Edwards AFB, CA First French and Saudi Arabian crew06/17/85- 06/24/85 members; first reuseable payload deployed( S P AR T A N 1 )

S T S - 5 1 - F Chal lenger 7 1 2 6 7 2 2 45 Edw ards A F B , C A S pacelab 2 f l ight07/29/85 -08/06/85

ST S- 5 1 - 1 Discovery 5 11 1 7 2 18 Edwards AFB, CA Launched three satellites; captured,08/27/85 -09/03/85 sal vaged, r epai red L E A S A T - 3

S T S - 5 1 - J Atlant is 5 9 7 4 1 45 Edwards AFB, CA First flight of At lant is ; DOD mission10/03/85 - 10/07/85STS-61-A Chal lenger 8 1 1 0 7 0 45 Edw ards A F B , C A First 8-person crew; first foreign-dedicated

10/30/85 - 11/06/85 S pacelab missionS T S - 6 1 - B Atlant is 7 10 8 6 2 2 5 4 Edw ards A F B , C A EASE/ACCESS spacestation construction

11/26/85 - 12/03/85 experiment performed; first Mexicanin spaceSTS-61-C Columbia 7 96 6 2 4 Edw ards A F B , C A Landed at Edwards AFB after Kennedy011/12 /86 - 01/18/86 Space Center weather wave-offS T S - 5 1 - L Chal lenger 7 0 0 0 0 N/A Explosion 73 seconds after lift-off claims01/28/86 crew, including teacher-in-space

S T S - 2 6 Discovery 5 65 4 1 1 Edw ards A F B , C A The Journey Continues; deployed TDRS-C;09/29/98- 10/03/88 two Shuttle Student Involvement Program(SSIP) experiments were tested

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T H EF U T U R E. UIS Y O URS

A Space Station now being developed, Freedom, wi l l b e aperma nent community in space , w here a s tronauts andscientists can l ive and work while orbit ing Earth.E xplora t ion on Ea r th or in space involve s r isks ,a n d th e r e c a n b e s e t b a c k s a l o ng t he w a y . Ne v e r -t he l e s s , hum a nk i nd mus t k e e p t he s p i r it o f e x p l o-r a t io n a l iv e w h e t h e r e x p lo rin g t h e o c e a n s o f E a r tho r th e o c e a n s o f sp a c e . O u r s ta r s a i lo r s h a v e t o beb r a v e a n d w i l li n g to a c c e p t t h e r is k s th a t a c c o m -pany spa ce e xplora t ion. And a l l of us must suppor tthem in the i r ende avors .W e w i ll lo n g re m e m b e r th e Chal lenger tragedy.T h e se b r a v e a s tr o na u t s w e r e w i l l ing t o ta k e o n th ed a n g e r s o f s p a c e f l ig h t b e c a u s e t h e y h a d a v i si o nof t he g r e a t pos s i b i l i ti e s t ha t la y a he a d . We mus tcont inue to expand tha t v is ion.

i n t h e S p a c e S t a t i o n . I t i s h op e d t h a t t h e s e a s t r o -nauts w i l l pe rform sc ient ific exper im ents , producen e w m e d i ci n e s , a n d e v e n l a y t he b a s e f o r s p a c ei n d us tr i e s t h a t n e e d a m i c r o g ra v i t y e n v i ro n m e n tfor optimum success.P e r h a p s w e w i l l re t u r n to t he M o o n to e s t a b l i shMo o n se t tl e m e n t s . Ma y be t h e p e o p le l i v in g in th elunar se t t l eme nts w i l l be t es t ing and adva ncing tech-n o l o gy to ca r ry u s to th e a s t e ro i d s , to Ma rs , a n dbeyond.Perhaps you w i l l be a m em be r of the f i rs t cr ew tojourney to Ma rs . The impor tant th ing for you to donow i s study ha r d a nd dr e a m dr e a m s of tom or row .

On the Wings of a Dream the Space Shuttle

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