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For other meanings, see orbiter (disambiguation).

An orbiter is a space probe that orbits a planet or other astronomical object. An orbiter can be either man-made, or created naturally.

Orbiter Vehicle

Just as much an orbiter, as is an asteroid or a comet, NASA's space shuttle orbiter vehicle also falls under the category of orbiter. To understand why, an object in outer space must follow one basic rule. The object must orbit another object in space. Now these orbiters may not always be visible, because certain orbiters, have extremely large orbits. An example of this would be Haley's Comet. It is considered an orbiter because while it only is visible to us on earth roughly every seventy seven years, it still has a definite path that it follows orbiting around our sun. The space shuttle is considered an orbiter because once it is in space it orbits around planet earth, either alone, or linked up with the international space station.

The Jobs of NASA's Orbiter Vehicle

Yes the orbital vehicle is an orbiter, but that doesn't mean orbiting earth is its job. Orbiting earth is more so of what it does. The vehicle actually has various others jobs. Aside from orbiting planet earth, The space shuttle orbiter is a ferry service that takes astronauts to and from the international space station and various other objects that orbit around our planet. It is a laboratory for scientific studies conducted by the crew. A maintenance ship for other in orbit objects, like the Hubble telescope. Finally the shuttle serves as a U-haul, so to speak. In other words, the shuttles were used to carry new technology into space to help further our study of the galaxy. Orbiting is just one of the things that the shuttle does once in space.

The Marvel that is the Space Shuttle Orbiter

The reason many are so impressed and the space shuttle is so advanced is because it is reusable. Sometimes refereed to as a space plane, this actually happens to be an accurate description of what the space shuttle is. Just as a plane can fly a person from a country to another, the space shuttles flies astronauts into space, and back. The real impressive part comes with the 'and back'. Before the shuttle existed, the only way to come back from being in orbit or in outer space was to splash down into the ocean and then be recovered. Once that was completed, that was the end of use for the vessel used on that mission. However the space shuttle had the ability to go to and from space and safely land, and then begin preparation for the next trip.

History and Retirement

Six total orbiters where built and used throughout the time the space shuttle program was operation for its duration with NASA. The first being Enterprise. This shuttle was built and used for the purpose of testing and never actually made it into orbit, because it was never intended to be. After that four new shuttles where built and rolled out for NASA to use on missions. They are as follows Columbia, Atlantis, Discovery, and Challenger. Unfortunately due to a lift-off accident in 1986 the crew was lost along with the shuttle Challenger. The space shuttle Endeavor was built in 1991 to replace Challenger. In 2003 on re-entry the space shuttle Columbia also suffered a fatal accident in which the crew and shuttle where lost. After roughly thirty years of service the remaining four shuttles have been retired and moved to display locations across the United States. The Enterprise now resides at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, NY. Space shuttle Discovery was retired and moved to National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. Endeavor is at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, CA. Space shuttle Atlantis is at the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, FL.

The Layout of an Orbiter

A orbital vehicle is broken down into three main sections. The first being the forward fuselage. Here is simply where the crew cabin is located. The crew cabin included the cockpit, living quarters, and the experiment operators station. In the mid fuselage is where the payload doors are located. In this area equipment that is meant to travel into orbit with the shuttle is stored until it reaches it's destination. Finally on the orbital vehicle there is a aft fuselage. This is where the maneuvering mechanisms are located along with main engines.

Successful orbiters

Asteroids

NEAR Shoemaker (orbited 433 Eros, eventually landed but was not designed to do so)
Hayabusa (studied 25143 Itokawa, technically not an orbiter, but rather followed the asteroid in its orbit around the Sun)
Dawn (orbited 4 Vesta, now en route to Ceres)