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The '''Space Shuttle orbiter''' is the orbital [[spacecraft]] of the [[Space Shuttle]] [[Space Shuttle program|program]] operated by [[NASA]], the space agency of the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbiters_toc.html|title=Facts About the Space Shuttles|publisher=NASA}}</ref> The orbiter is a reusable winged "[[space-plane]]", a mixture of [[rocket]]'s, [[spacecraft]], and [[aircraft]]. This space-plane can carry crews and payloads into [[Earth orbit]], perform on-orbit operations, then [[atmospheric reentry|re-enter the atmosphere]] and land as a [[glider aircraft|glider]], returning her crew and any on-board payload to the Earth.
The '''Space Shuttle orbiter''' is the orbital [[spacecraft]] of the [[Space Shuttle]] [[Space Shuttle program|program]] operated by [[NASA]], the space agency of the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbiters_toc.html|title=Facts About the Space Shuttles|publisher=NASA}}</ref> The orbiter is a reusable winged "[[space-plane]]", a mixture of [[rocket]]s, [[spacecraft]], and [[aircraft]]. This space-plane can carry crews and payloads into [[Earth orbit]], perform on-orbit operations, then [[atmospheric reentry|re-enter the atmosphere]] and land as a [[glider aircraft|glider]], returning her crew and any on-board payload to the Earth.


A total of six Orbiters were built for flight: [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|''Atlantis'']], [[Space Shuttle Challenger|''Challenger'']], [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'']], [[Space Shuttle Discovery|''Discovery'']], [[Space Shuttle Endeavour|''Endeavour'']] and [[Space Shuttle Enterprise|''Enterprise'']]. All were built by the southern California based [[Rockwell International]] company. The first Orbiter to fly, ''Enterprise'', took her maiden flight in 1977. Built solely for unpowered atmospheric test flights and landings, her take-off was from the back of a modified Boeing-747 cargo plane, the [[Shuttle Carrier Aircraft]], while the remaining Orbiters were built for orbital space flights, launched vertically as part of the full [[Space Shuttle]] package.
A total of six Orbiters were built for flight: [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|''Atlantis'']], [[Space Shuttle Challenger|''Challenger'']], [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'']], [[Space Shuttle Discovery|''Discovery'']], [[Space Shuttle Endeavour|''Endeavour'']] and [[Space Shuttle Enterprise|''Enterprise'']]. All were built by the southern California based [[Rockwell International]] company. The first Orbiter to fly, ''Enterprise'', took her maiden flight in 1977. Built solely for unpowered atmospheric test flights and landings, her take-off was from the back of a modified Boeing-747 cargo plane, the [[Shuttle Carrier Aircraft]], while the remaining Orbiters were built for orbital space flights, launched vertically as part of the full [[Space Shuttle]] package.

Revision as of 03:45, 27 January 2011

Template:Infobox Spacecraft The Space Shuttle orbiter is the orbital spacecraft of the Space Shuttle program operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States.[1] The orbiter is a reusable winged "space-plane", a mixture of rockets, spacecraft, and aircraft. This space-plane can carry crews and payloads into Earth orbit, perform on-orbit operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider, returning her crew and any on-board payload to the Earth.

A total of six Orbiters were built for flight: Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise. All were built by the southern California based Rockwell International company. The first Orbiter to fly, Enterprise, took her maiden flight in 1977. Built solely for unpowered atmospheric test flights and landings, her take-off was from the back of a modified Boeing-747 cargo plane, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, while the remaining Orbiters were built for orbital space flights, launched vertically as part of the full Space Shuttle package.

Columbia was the first Orbiter to launch into space as a Space Shuttle, in 1981. The first launches of Challenger, Discovery, and finally Atlantis, followed in 1983, 1984 and 1985 respectively. In 1986, Challenger was destroyed in an accident after launch. Endeavour was built as Challenger's replacement, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry, leaving just three remaining Orbiters. Two were to be used for the last time in flights during 2010, Atlantis in May, Discovery in November. Endeavour is scheduled to make its final flight in January 2011.

In addition to their crews and payloads, the reusable Space Shuttle Orbiter carries most of the Space Shuttle System's liquid-fueled rocket propulsion system, but both the liquid hydrogen fuel and the liquid oxygen oxidizer for her three main rocket engines is fed from an external cryogenic propellant tank, and there are also two reusable large solid-fueled rocket boosters that help to lift both the Orbiter and her external propellant tanks during approximately the first two minutes of her ascent into outer space.

Description

Space Shuttle cockpit

Attitude control system

The Space Shuttle Orbiter resembles an aircraft in her design, with a standard-looking fuselage and two double-delta wings, both swept at an angle of 81 degrees at their inner leading edges and 45 degrees at their outer leading edges. The vertical stabilizer of the Orbiter has a leading edge that is swept back at a 45-degree angle. There are four elevons mounted at the trailing edges of the delta wings, and the combination rudder and speed brake is attached at the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer. These, along with a movable body flap, control the Orbiter during her later stages of descent through the atmosphere and her landing.

Overall, the Space Shuttle Orbiter is roughly the same size as a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airliner.

The Reaction Control System (RCS) is composed of 44 small liquid-fueled rocket thrusters and their very sophisticated computerized (fly-by-wire) flight control system, which utilizes computationally-intensive digital Kalman Filtering. This control system carries out the usual attitude control along the pitch, roll, and yaw axes during all of the flight phases of launching, orbiting, and re-entry. This system also executes any needed orbital maneuvers, including all changes in the orbit's altitude, orbital plane, and eccentricity. These are all operations that require a lot more power and energy than mere attitude control.

The forward rockets of the Reaction Control System, located near the nose of the Space Shuttle Orbiter, include 12 primary and two vernier RCS rockets. The aft RCS engines are located in the two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods at the rear of the Orbiter, and these include 12 primary and two vernier RCS engines in each pod. The RCS system provides the fine-pointing control of the Orbiter, and the RCS is used for the maneuvering during the rendezvous, docking, and undocking maneuvering with the International Space Station, or formerly with the Russian Mir space station. The RCS also controls the attitude of the Orbiter during most of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere - until the air becomes dense enough that the elevons and the rudder become effective.[2]

Pressurized cabin

The Orbiter astronaut's crew cabin consists of three levels: the flight deck, the mid-deck, and the utility area. The uppermost of these is the flight deck, in which sit the Space Shuttle's commander and co-pilot, with up to two mission specialists seated behind them. The mid-deck, which is below the flight deck, has three more seats for the rest of the crew members.

The galley, toilet, sleep locations, storage lockers, and the side hatch for entering and exiting the Orbiter are also located on the mid-deck, as well as the airlock. The airlock has an additional hatch into the Payload Bay. This airlock allows two astronauts, wearing their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suits, to depressurize before a walk in space (EVA), and also to repressurize and re-enter the Orbiter at the conclusion of the EVA.

Propulsion

Three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) are mounted on the Orbiter's aft fuselage in the pattern of an equilateral triangle. These three liquid-fueled engines can be swiveled 10.5 degrees vertically and 8.5 degrees horizontally during the rocket-powered ascent of the Orbiter in order to change the direction of their thrust. Hence, they steer the entire Space Shuttle, as well as providing her rocket thrust towards orbit. The aft of the fuselage also houses three auxiliary power units (APU). The APUs burn hydrazine to provide hydraulic pressure for all of the hydraulic system, including the ones that point the three main liquid-fueled rocket engines, under computerized flight control. The hydraulic pressure generated is also used to control all of the Orbiter's "aerosurfaces" (the elevons, rudder, air brake, etc.), to deploy the landing gear of the Orbiter, and to open and close the cargo bay's large main doors.

Two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) thusters are mounted in two separate pods in the Orbiter's aft fuselage, located between the SSMEs and the vertical stabilizer of the Orbiter. The OMS engines provide significant thrust for coarse orbital maneuvers, including insertion, circularization, transfer, rendezvous, deorbit, abort to orbit, and to abort once around[3].

Thermal protection

The Thermal Protection System (TPS) covers the outside of the Orbiter, protecting it from the cold soak of -121 °C (-250 °F) in space to the 1649 °C (3000 °F) heat of re-entry.

Structure

The orbiter structure is made primarily from aluminum alloy, although the engine thrust structure is made from titanium alloy. The windows are made of aluminum silicate glass and fused silica glass, and comprise an internal pressure pane, a 1.3-inch-thick (33 mm) optical pane, and an external thermal pane[4]. The windows are tinted with the same ink used to make American banknotes[5].

Landing gear

The Space Shuttle Orbiter has three sets of landing gear (wheels, brakes, steering motors) which emerge downwards through doors in the Orbiter's heat shield. Once lowered, these cannot be retracted during flights, since that is never necessary - and also providing for this capability would only add to the weight load of the landing gear on the Orbiter. Furthermore, since any premature extension of the landing gear would very likely be catastrophic (since it opens through the heat shield layers), this lowering of the landing gear can only be manually activated, and never by any automatic system, such as a computer.

Lack of navigational lights

The Space Shuttle Orbiter carries neither anti-collision lights, navigational lights, nor landing lights, because she always lands in areas that have been specially-cleared by both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force. The Orbiter nearly always lands at either Edwards Air Force Base (California) or near to the Patrick Air Force Base (Florida). Similar special clearances (no-fly zones) are also in effect at potential emergency-landing sites for the Orbiter, such as in Spain and in West Africa during all launches. Thus far, only one Orbiter landing has been carried out elsewhere, at an airfield in New Mexico, when the weather was unacceptable both in Florida and at Edwards Air Force Base.

When any Orbiter landing is carried out at night, the runway is always strongly illuminated with light from floodlights and spotlights on the ground, making landing lights on the Orbiter unnecessary and also an unneeded spaceflight weight load.

Shuttle Orbiter Specifications

(for the Endeavour, OV-105)

  • Length: 122.17 ft (37.24 m)
  • Wingspan: 78.06 ft (23.79 m)
  • Height: 58.58 ft (17.25 m)
  • Empty Weight: 151,205 lb (68,585 kg); 172,000 lb (78018 kg) with SSME installed
  • Gross Liftoff Weight: 240,000 lb (109,000 kg)
  • Maximum Landing Weight: 230,000 lb (104,000 kg)
  • Main Engines: Three Rocketdyne Block two-A SSMEs, each with a sea-level thrust of 393,800 pounds-force (1.75 meganewtons)
  • Maximum Payload: 55,250 pounds (25,060 kg)
  • Payload Bay dimensions: 15 ft by 60 ft (4.6 m by 18.3 m)
  • Operational Altitude: 100 to 520 nautical miles (190 to 960 km)
  • Speed: 25,404 feet/sec (7,743 meters/sec, 27,875 km/hour, 17,321 m.p.h.)
  • Cross-range capability: 1,085 nautical miles (2,010 km)
  • Crew: six to eight (Commander, Pilot, four to six Mission Specialists, Payload Specialists, or passengers to/from space stations). Two astronauts (the Flight Commander and the Pilot) is the minimum number of crewmen.
  • Crew Compartment Space: 2,325 cu ft (65.8 m3) (With internal airlock) or 2,625 cu ft (74.3 m3) (With external airlock inside the payload bay)

The orbiter's maximum glide ratio/lift-to-drag ratio varies considerably with speed, ranging from 1:1 at hypersonic speeds, 2:1 at supersonic speeds, and reaching 4.5:1 at subsonic speeds during her approach and landing.[6]

Fleet

Shuttle launch profiles. From left to right: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.

Individual Space Shuttle orbiters are named in honor of antique sailing ships of the navies of the world, and they are also numbered using the NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation system. While all of the Orbiters are externally practically identical, they have minor differences in their interiors. New equipment for the Orbiters is installed in the same order that they are undergoing maintenance work, and the newer Orbiters were constructed by Rockwell International, under NASA supervision, with some more advanced, lighter in weight, structural elements. Thus, the newer Orbiters, such as the Atlantis and the Endeavour, have slightly-more cargo capacity than the other ones did.

Test Articles
Number Name Notes
OV-095
 - Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory replica for avionic system testing and training
OV-098 (honorary)
 Pathfinder Orbiter Simulator for moving and handling tests
MPTA-098
 - Testbed for propulsion and fuel delivery systems
STA-099
 - Structural test article used for stress and thermal testing, later became Challenger
OV-101
 Enterprise First atmospheric free flight October 26, 1977. Used for approach and landing tests, not suitable for spaceflight
Orbiters
Number Name Notes
OV-099
 Challenger First launched April 4, 1983. Destroyed after her take-off on January 28, 1986
OV-102
 Columbia First launched April 12, 1981. Destroyed during her re-entry on February 1, 2003
OV-103
 Discovery First launched on August 30, 1984
OV-104
 Atlantis First launched on October 3, 1985
OV-105
 Endeavour First launched on May 7, 1992
Challenger while in service as structural test article STA-099.
  • The Enterprise was a prototype designed to test Space Shuttle behavior in atmospheric flight. She is currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport.
  • The Columbia first launched on April 12, 1981. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia burned and disintegrated during her re-entry during her 28th spaceflight.
  • The Challenger first launched on April 4, 1983. On January 28, 1986 she exploded and disintegrated 73 seconds after her launch on her 10th mission.
  • The Discovery first launched on August 30, 1984. She has flown on 35 missions, and she is still flightworthy today. She was NASA's Return to Flight vehicle, following the accidental destruction of the Challenger and the Columbia. The Discovery is scheduled to fly her last mission in November 2010.
  • The Atlantis first launched on October 3, 1985. She has flown 30 spaceflights and was officially retired from service in May 2010.
  • The Endeavour first launched on May 7, 1992. She has flown 22 spaceflights, and she is still flightworthy today. She is tentively scheduled to be retired from service in January 2011.
Adventure on display at Space Center Houston.

In addition to the test articles and orbiters produced for use in the Shuttle program, there are also various mock-ups on display throughout the world:

Flight statistics

Key
‡  Test vehicle
†  Lost
Shuttle Designation Flights Flight time Orbits Longest flight First flight Last flight Mir
dockings 		ISS dockings Sources
Flight Date Flight Date
Enterprise ‡ OV-101 5 00d 00h 19m — 00d 00h 05m ALT-12 12 August 1977 ALT-16 26 October 1977 — — [7][8][9][10]
Columbia † OV-102 28 300d 17h 47m 15s 4,808 17d 15h 53m 18s STS-1 12 April 1981 STS-107 16 January 2003 0 0 [7][8][11][12][13]
Challenger † OV-099 10 62d 07h 56m 15s 995 08d 05h 23m 33s STS-6 4 April 1983 STS-51-L 28 January 1986 0 0 [7][8][14][15]
Discovery OV-103 39 364d 22h 39m 29s 5,830 15d 02h 48m 08s STS-41-D 30 August 1984 STS-133 24 February 2011 1 13 [7][8][16][17]
Atlantis OV-104 33 306d 14h 12m 43s 4,848 13d 20h 12m 44s STS-51-J 3 October 1985 STS-135 8 July 2011 7 12 [7][8][18][19]
Endeavour OV-105 25 296d 03h 34m 02s 4,677 16d 15h 08m 48s STS-49 7 May 1992 STS-134 16 May 2011 1 12 [7][8][20][21]
Total 135 1,330d 18h 9m 44s 21,158 9 37
Space Shuttle EndeavourSpace Shuttle AtlantisSpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle ChallengerSpace Shuttle Columbia
U.S. shuttle Columbia landing at the end of STS-73.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Space Shuttle orbiters.

References

  1. ^ "Facts About the Space Shuttles". NASA.
  2. ^ "HSF - The Shuttle". Spaceflight.nasa.gov. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  3. ^ "Orbital Maneuvering System". Science.ksc.nasa.gov. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  4. ^ "STS-113 Space Shuttle Processing Questions & Answers (NASA KSC)". Ksc.nasa.gov. November 15, 2002. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  5. ^ "www.kansascity.com". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  6. ^ http://klabs.org/DEI/Processor/shuttle/shuttle_tech_conf/1985008580.pdf
  7. ^ a b c d e f Chen, Adam (2012). Wallack, William; Gonzalez, George (eds.). Celebrating 30 years the Space Shuttle Program. Washington, D.C., United States: NASA. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-16-090202-4. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "NASA Facts: Space Shuttle Era Facts" (PDF). John F. Kennedy Space Center. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  9. ^ "Enterprise (OV-101)". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Fast Facts on the Space Shuttle Enterprise". Fox News Insider. Fox News. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Space: The Space Shuttle Columbia". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  12. ^ "Fast Facts: Space Shuttle Columbia". Fox News. 2 February 2003. Archived from the original on 2012-11-19. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  13. ^ "Columbia (OV-102)". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  14. ^ "Challenger (STA-099, OV-99)". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  15. ^ "Space Shuttle Challenger Facts". Florida Today. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  16. ^ Wall, Mike (19 April 2012). "Space Shuttle Discovery: 5 Surprising Facts About NASA's Oldest Orbiter". Space.com. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  17. ^ "Orbiter, Space Shuttle, OV-103, Discovery". Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  18. ^ Fletcher, Dan (14 May 2010). "Space Shuttle Atlantis Blasts Off: Five Fast Facts". Time. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  19. ^ "Shuttle Launch Facts: 15 Things to Know about Space Shuttle Atlantis' Mission". Florida Today. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  20. ^ "The Space Shuttle Endeavour Fact Sheet". CBS News. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  21. ^ "Space Shuttle Endeavour Facts". Florida Today. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
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