SEMINAR REPORT ON

SPACE SHUTTLE
Submitted for the partial fulfillment of award OF Degree of Bachelors of Technology (Electronics and Communication Engineering)

BY: Yosra Farooq (0913231132)

Department of Electronics and Communication G.N.I.T. GREATER NOIDA Session 2011-2012

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Yosra Farooq has given a which is presented in this report entitled SHUTTLE for the award of Bachelor of Degree from Uttar Pradesh Technical Lucknow.

presentation SPACE technology University,

MR. Dhiraj Gupta HOD (ECE)

Seminar Committee (1) Mr. Sunil Kr. Choudhary (2) Mr. Manish Gupta

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take immense pleasure in thanking Mr. Sunil Kr. Choudhary and Mr Manish Gupta for having permitted me to carry out this presentation. I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Dhiraj Gupta, HOD of electronics and communication department. Finally, yet importantly, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents for their blessings, my batch mates and my teachers for their help and wishes for the successful completion of this presentation.

YOSRA FAROOQ

(0913231132)

INDEX
1. Space 2. What is a space shuttle?

3. History of the space shuttle 4. Working of a space shuttle:a. Introduction to how space shuttle works. b. Launching the space shuttle. c. Space shuttle lift off. d. Space shuttle in orbit e. Space shuttle positioning, communication and navigation. f. Space shuttles return to earth. 5. Dimensions of the space shuttle endeavour. 6. Space shuttle accidents. 7. How has the space shuttle program helped us. 8. The space shuttle program: stunning success or dismal failure.

SPACE
Space is the boundless, four-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. It is basically an emptiness. Scattered around in that emptiness are lumps of material: planets, stars and other things. The universe contains extreme objects like black holes, dark matter, nebula, super novas etc. In short we can conclude that space is something that separates stars from stars and galaxies from galaxies.

NEED TO EXPLORE THE SPACE: It is part of our nature as human beings that we want to explore and try to better understand the world in which we live. Through the exploration of the solar system, we can begin to unravel the mysteries of our universe, and to better understand our place in the cosmos. Space exploration provides us with knowledge about the origins of our solar system, our own planet Earth, and about human origins, and helps to answer questions that have intrigued humankind throughout the centuries. It is important because it provides us with an unparalleled opportunity to make advancements in science and technology which can be a benefit to all of humankind, such as in the areas of communications and remote sensing. Space technology has become an integral part of our daily lives. Cellular technology, for example, is dependent on satellite communications, Satellites are also used to monitor changes in Earth's climate and ocean circulation, for weather forecasting, in aviation and marine navigation, and for military reconnaissance.

(1)

THE SPACE SHUTTLE:The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry space plane with modular add-ons. Major missions included launching numerous satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science experiments, and 37 missions constructing and servicing the International Space Station. A major international contribution was the Spacelab payload suite, from the ESA. The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable launch system and orbital spacecraft. Near the end of the Apollo space program, NASA officials were looking at the future of the American space program. At that time, the rockets used to place astronauts and equipments in outer space. These were one shot disposable rockets. What was needed was a reliable, but less expensive,rocket, perhaps one that was reusable. The idea of reusable space shuttle that could launch like a rocket but deliver and land like an airplane was appealing and would be a great technical achievement. NASA began design, cost and engineering studies on space shuttle. Many aerospace companies also explored the concepts. The concepts varied from a reusable, manned booster concept to a huttle lifted by solid rockets. In 1972, President Nixon announced that NASA would develop a reusable space shuttle or space transportation system. NASA decided that the shuttle would consist of an orbiter attached to solid rocket booter and an external fuel tank because this design was considered safer and more cost effective. NASA awarded the prime contact to Rockwell International. At that time, spacecraft used ablative heat shields that would burn away as the spacecraft re-entered the Earths atmosphere. However, to be reusable, a different strategy would have to be used. The designers of the space shuttle came up with an idea to cover the space shuttle with many insulating ceramic tiles that could absorb the heat of re-entry without harming the astronauts. The space shuttle was to fly like a plane, more like a glider, when it (2)

landed. A working orbiter was built to test the aerodynamic design, but not to go into outer space. The orbiter was called the Enterprise after the Star Trek launched from a Boeing 747 and glided to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Finally after many years of construction and testing, the shuttle was ready to fly. The space shuttle consists of the following major components, two solid rocket boosters, external fuel tank and orbiter. A typical mission lasts seven to eight days, but can extend to as much as 14 days depending upon the objectives of the mission.

(3)

HISTORY
The formal design of what became the Space Shuttle began with "Phase A" contract design studies issued in the late 1960s. However, conceptualization began two decades earlier, before the Apollo program of the 1960s. One of the places the concept of a spacecraft returning from space to a horizontal landing originated was within NACA, in 1954, in the form of an aeronautics research experiment later named the X-15. The NACA proposal was submitted by Walter Dornberger. In 1958, the X-15 concept further developed into proposal to launch a X-15 into space, and another Xseries spaceplane proposal, called the X-20, which was not constructed, as well as variety of aerospace plane concepts and studies. Neil Armstrong was selected to pilot both the X-15 and the X-20. Though the X-20 was not built, another spaceplane similar to the X-20 was built several years later and delivered to NASA in January 1966 called the HL-10 ("HL" indicated "horizontal landing"). In the mid-1960s, the US Air Force conducted a series of classified studies on next-generation space transportation systems and concluded that semi-reusable designs were the cheapest choice. It proposed a development program with an immediate start on a "Class I" vehicle with expendable boosters, followed by slower development of a "Class II" semi-reusable design and perhaps a "Class III" fully reusable design later. In 1967, George Mueller held a one-day symposium at NASA headquarters to study the options. Eighty people attended and presented a wide variety of designs, including earlier Air Force designs as the Dyna-Soar (X20). In 1968, NASA officially began work on what was then known as the Integrated Launch and Re-entry Vehicle (ILRV). At the same time, NASA held a separate Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) competition. NASA offices in Houston and Huntsville jointly issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for ILRV studies to design a spacecraft that could deliver a payload to orbit but also re-enter the atmosphere and fly back to Earth. For example, one of the responses was for a two-stage design, featuring a large booster and a small orbiter, called the DC-3, one of several Phase A Shuttle designs. After the aforementioned "Phase A" studies, B, C, and D phases progressively evaluated in-depth designs up to 1972. In the final design, the bottom stage was recoverable solid rocket (4)

boosters, and the top stage used an expendable external tank. In 1969, President Richard Nixon decided to support proceeding with Space Shuttle development. A series of development programs and analysis refined the basic design, prior to full development and testing. In August 1973, the X-24B proved that an unpowered spaceplane could re-enter Earth's atmosphere for a horizontal landing. Across the Atlantic, European ministers met in Belgium in 1973 to authorize Western Europe's manned orbital project and its main contribution to Space Shuttle the Spacelab program.[18] Spacelab would provide a multi-disciplinary orbital space laboratory and additional space equipment for the Shuttle. The first four orbital test flights occurred in 1981 leading to operational flight beginning in1982, all launched from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. Five shuttles were made:- Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis, Challenger and Endeavour. All were built by Pittsburgh, PA based Rockwell International Company. The first flight was piloted by astronauts John Young and Robert Crippon. In 1986 the shuttle Challenger broke up in flight. On 1st february 2003, Columbia broke up 16 minutes before its expected landing. The program ended after Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Centre on July 21, 2011.

(5)

WORKING
1. Introduction to working:In its nearly 30-year history, the space shuttle program has seen exhilarating highs and devastating lows. The fleet has taken astronauts on dozens of successful missions, resulting in immeasurable scientific gains. But this success has had a serious cost. In 1986, the Challenger exploded during launch. In 2003, the Columbia broke up during re-entry over Texas. Since the Columbia accident, the shuttles have been grounded pending redesigns to improve their safety. The 2005 shuttle Discovery was supposed to initiate the return to flight, but a large piece of insulating foam broke free from its external fuel tank, leaving scientists to solve the mystery and the program grounded once more until July 2006, when the Discovery and Atlantis both carried out successful missions. In this article, we examine the monumental technology behind America's shuttle program, the mission it was designed to carry out, and the extraordinary efforts that NASA has made to return the shuttle to flight. First, let's look at the parts of the space shuttle and a typical mission.

The space shuttle consists of the following major components: two solid rocket boosters (SRB) - critical for the launch external fuel tank (ET) - carries fuel for the launch orbiter - carries astronauts and payload The space shuttle flight path. A typical shuttle mission is as follows: getting into orbit launch - the shuttle lifts off the launching pad ascent orbital maneuvering burn orbit - life in space re-entry landing A typical shuttle mission lasts seven to eight days, but can extend to as much as 14 days depending upon the objectives of the mission. Let's look at the stages of a mission one by one. (6)

2. Launching the space shuttle;- 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 Let's look at these components closely. Solid Rocket Boosters The SRBs are solid rockets that provide most of the main force or thrust (71 percent) needed to lift the space shuttle off the launch pad. In addition, the SRBs support the entire weight of the space shuttle orbiter and fuel tank on the launch pad. Each SRB has the following parts: solid rocket motor - case, propellant, igniter, nozzle solid propellant fuel - atomized aluminum (16 percent) oxidizers ammonium perchlorate (70 percent) catalyst - iron oxide powder (0.2 percent) binder - polybutadiene acrylic acid acrylonite (12 percent) curing agent - epoxy resin (2 percent) jointed structure synthetic rubber o-rings between joints flight instruments recovery systems parachutes (drogue, main) floatation devices signaling devices explosive charges for separating from the external tank thrust control systems self-destruct mechanism Because the SRBs are solid rocket engines, once they are ignited, they cannot be shut down. Therefore, they are the last component to light at launch. Main Engines The orbiter has three main engines located in the aft (back) fuselage (body of the spacecraft). Each engine is 14 feet (4.3 m) long, 7.5 feet (2. 3 m) in diameter at its widest point (the nozzle) and weighs (7)

about 6,700 lb (3039 kg).

Photo courtesy NASA The main engines provide the remainder of the thrust (29 percent) to lift the shuttle off the pad and into orbit. The engines burn liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen , which are stored in the external fuel tank (ET), at a ratio of 6:1. They draw liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the ET at an amazing rate, equivalent to emptying a family swimming pool every 10 seconds! The fuel is partially burned in a pre-chamber to produce high pressure, hot gases that drive the turbo-pumps (fuel pumps). The fuel is then fully burned in the main combustion chamber and the exhaust gases (water vapor) leave the nozzle at approximately 6,000 mph (10,000 km/h). Each engine can generate between 375,000 and 470,000 lb (1,668,083 to 2,090,664 N) of thrust; the rate of thrust can be controlled from 65 percent to 109 percent maximum thrust. The engines are mounted on gimbals (round bearings) that control the direction of the exhaust, which controls the forward direction of the rocket External Fuel Tank As mentioned above, the fuel for the main engines is stored in the ET. The ET is 158 ft (48 m) long and has a diameter of 27.6 ft (8.4 m). When empty, the ET weighs 78,000 lb (35,455 kg). It holds about 1.6 million lb (719,000 kg) of propellant with a total volume of about 526,000 gallons (2 million liters). The ET is made of aluminum and aluminum composite materials. It has two separate tanks inside, the forward tank for oxygen and the aft tank for hydrogen, separated by an intertank region. Each tank has baffles to dampen the motion of fluid inside. Fluid flows from each tank through a 17-inch (43 cm) diameter feed line out of the ET through an umbilical line into the shuttle's main engines. Through these lines, oxygen can flow at a maximum rate of 17,600 gallons/min (66,600 l/min) and hydrogen can flow at a maximum rate of 47,400 gallons/min (8)

(179,000 l/min). The ET is covered with a 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick layer of sprayon, polyisocyanurate foam insulation. The insulation keeps the fuels cold, protects the fuel from heat that builds up on the ET skin in flight, and minimizes ice formation. When Columbia launched in 2003, pieces of the insulating foam broke off the ET and damaged the left wing of the orbiter, which ultimately caused Columbia to break up upon reentry.

3.

Space shuttle lift off:-

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 reentry.

The OMS engines burn monomethyl hydrazine fuel (CH3NHNH2) and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer (N2O4). Interestingly, when these two substances come in contact, they ignite and burn automatically (i.e., no spark required) in the absence of oxygen. The fuel and oxidizer are kept in separate tanks, each pressurized by helium. The helium pushes the fluids through the fuel lines (i.e., no mechanical pump required). In each fuel line, there are two springloaded solenoid valves that close the lines. Pressurized nitrogen gas, from a small tank located near the engine, opens the valves and allows (9)

the fuel and oxidizer to flow into the combustion chamber of the engine. When the engines shut off, the nitrogen goes from the valves into the fuel lines momentarily to flush the lines of any remaining fuel and oxidizer; this purge of the line prevents any unwanted explosions. During a single flight, there is enough nitrogen to open the valves and purge the lines 10 times! Either one or both of the OMS engines can fire, depending upon the orbital maneuver. Each OMS engine can produce 6,000 lb (26,400 N) of thrust. The OMS engines together can accelerate the shuttle by 2 ft/s2(0.6 m/s2). This acceleration can change the shuttle's velocity by as much as 1,000 ft/s (305 m/s). To place into orbit or to de-orbit takes about 100-500 ft/s (31-153 m/s) change in velocity. Orbital adjustments take about 2 ft/s (0.61 m/s) change in velocity. The engines can start and stop 1,000 times and have a total of 15 h burn time. Now let's put these pieces together to lift off! Profile of shuttle launch and ascent into orbit

SRB separation Photo courtesy NASA As the shuttle rests on the pad fully fueled, it weighs about 4.5 million pounds or 2 million kg. The shuttle rests on the SRBs as pre-launch and final launch preparations are going on through T minus 31 seconds: T minus 31 s - the on-board computers take over the launch sequence. T minus 6.6 s - the shuttle's main engines ignite one at a time (0.12 s apart). The engines build up to more than 90 percent of their maximum thrust. T minus 3 s - shuttle main engines are in lift-off position. T minus 0 s -the SRBs are ignited and the shuttle lifts off the pad. T plus 20 s - the shuttle rolls right (180 degree roll, 78 degree pitch). T plus 60 s - shuttle engines are at maximum throttle. (10)

1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

7. T plus 2 min - SRBs separate from the orbiter and fuel tank at an altitude of 28 miles (45 km). Main engines continue firing. Parachutes deploy from the SRBs. SRBs will land in the ocean about 140 miles (225 km) off the coast of Florida. Ships will recover the SRBs and tow them back to Cape Canaveral for processing and re-use. 8. T plus 7.7 min - main engines throttled down to keep acceleration below 3g's so that the shuttle does not break apart. 9. T plus 8.5 min - main engines shut down. 10. T plus 9 min - ET separates from the orbiter. The ET will burn up upon re-entry. 11. T plus 10.5 min - OMS engines fire to place you in a low orbit. 12. T plus 45 min - OMS engines fire again to place you in a higher, circular orbit (about 250 miles/400 km). You are now in outer space and ready to continue your mission.

4.

The space shuttle in orbit:-

Orbiter 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. The orbiter consists of the following parts: crew compartment - where you will live and work forward fuselage (upper, lower parts) - contains support equipment (fuel cells, gas tanks) for crew compartment forward reaction control system (RCS) module - contains forward rocket jets for turning the orbiter in various directions movable airlock - used for spacewalks and can be placed inside the crew compartment or inside the cargo bay mid-fuselage: contains essential parts (gas tanks, wiring, etc.) to connect the crew compartment with the aft engines; forms the floor of the cargo bay cargo bay doors - roof of the cargo bay and essential for cooling the orbiter (11)

remote manipulator arm - located in the cargo bay: moves large pieces of equipment in and out of the cargo bay; platform for spacewalking astronauts aft fuselage - contains the main engines OMS/RCS pods (2) - contain the orbital maneuvering engines and the aft RCS module; turn the orbiter and change orbits airplane parts of the orbiter - fly the shuttle upon landing (wings, tail, body flap) You will live in the crew compartment, which is located in the forward fuselage. The crew compartment has 2,325 cu.ft of space with the airlock inside or 2,625 cu.ft with the airlock outside. The crew compartment has three decks:

flight deck - uppermost deck forward deck - contains all of the controls and warning systems for the space shuttle (also known as the cockpit) seats - commander, pilot, specialist seats (two) aft deck - contains controls for orbital operations: maneuvering the orbiter while in orbit (rendezvous, docking, deploying payload, and working the remote manipulator arm mid-deck living quarters (galley, sleeping bunks, toilet) stowage compartments (personal gear, mission-essential equipment, experiments) exercise equipment airlock - on some flights entry hatch lower deck (equipment bay) - contains life support equipment, electrical systems, etc. Now that you have seen the parts of the orbiter, let's look closely at how the orbiter lets you live in space. Living Environment The shuttle orbiter provides an environment where you can live and work in space. It must be able to do the following: (12)

provide life support - everything the Earth does for us (atmosphere control, supply and recycling ;water; temperature control; light; food supply; waste removal; fire protection) change position and change orbits let you talk with ground-based flight controllers(communications and tracking) find its way around (navigation) make electrical power coordinate and handle information (computers) enable you to do useful work (launch/retrieve satellites; construction - such as building the International Space Station; conduct experiments) 5.

Space shuttle positioning, communication and navigation:- To change the direction that the
orbiter is pointed (attitude), you must use thereaction control system (RCS) located on the nose and OMS pods of the aft fuselage.

OMS firing Photo courtesy NASA The RCS has 14 jets that can move the orbiter along each axis of rotation (pitch, roll, yaw). The RCS thrusters burn monomethyl hydrazine fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer just like the OMS engines described previously. Attitude changes are required for deploying satellites or for pointing (mapping instruments, telescopes) at the Earth or stars. To change orbits (e.g., rendezvous, docking maneuvers), you must fire the OMS engines. As described above, these engines change the velocity of the orbiter to place it in a higher or lower orbit. (13)

Tracking and Communication You must be able to talk with flight controllers on the ground daily for the routine operation of the mission. In addition, you must be able to communicate with each other inside the orbiter or its payload modules and when conducting spacewalks outside. NASA's Mission Control in Houston will send signals to a 60 ft radio antenna at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. White Sands will relay the signals to a pair of Tracking and Data Relay satellites in orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. The satellites will relay the signals to the space shuttle. The system works in reverse as well.

The orbiter has two systems for communicating with the ground: S-band - voice, commands, telemetry and data files Ku-band (high bandwidth) - video and transferring two-way data files The orbiter has several intercom plug-in audio terminal units located throughout the crew compartment. You will wear a personal communications control with a headset. The communications control is battery-powered and can be switched from intercom to transmit functions. You can either push to talk and release to listen or have a continuously open communication line. To talk with spacewalkers, the system uses a UHF frequency, which is picked up in the astronaut's space suit. The orbiter also has a series of internal and external video cameras to see inside and outside. Navigation, Power and Computers The orbiter must be able to know precisely where it is in space, where other objects are and how to change orbit. To know where it is and how fast it is moving, the orbiter uses global positioning systems (GPS). To know which way it is pointing (attitude), the orbiter has several gyroscopes. All of this information is fed into the flight computers for rendezvous and docking maneuvers, which are controlled in the aft station of the flight deck. All of the on-board systems of the orbiter require electrical power. Three fuel cells make electricity; they are located in the mid fuselage under the payload bay. These fuel cells combine oxygen and hydrogen from pressurized tanks in the mid fuselage to make electricity and water. Like a power grid on Earth, the orbiter has a distribution system to (14)

supply electrical power to various instrument bays and areas of the ship. The water is used by the crew and for cooling.The orbiter has five onboard computers that handle data processing and control critical flight systems. The computers monitor equipment and talk to each other and vote to settle arguments. Computers control critical adjustments especially during launch and landing: operations of the orbiter (housekeeping functions, payload operations, rendezvous/docking) interface with the crew caution and warning systems data acquisition and processing from experiments flight maneuvers Pilots essentially fly the computers, which fly the shuttle. To make this easier, the shuttles have a Multifunctional Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS), which is a new, full color, flat, 11-panel display system. The MEDS, also known as the "glass cockpit", provides graphic portrayals of key light indicators (attitude, altitude, speed). The MEDS panels are easy to read and make it easier for shuttle pilots to interact with the orbiter. 6.

Space shuttles return to earth:- For a successful

return to Earth and landing, dozens of things have to go just right.

First, the orbiter must be maneuvered into the proper position. This is crucial to a safe landing. When a mission is finished and the shuttle is halfway around the world from the landing site (Kennedy Space Center, Edwards Air Force Base), mission control gives the command to come home, which prompts the crew to: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. (15)

4. Finally, they burn leftover fuel from the forward RCS as a safety precaution because this area encounters the highest heat of re-entry. Because it is moving at about 17,000 mph (28,000 km/h), the orbiter hits air molecules and builds up heat from friction (approximately 3000 degrees F, or 1650 degrees C). The orbiter is covered with ceramic insulating materials designed to protect it from this heat. The materials include: Reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) on the wing surfaces and underside High-temperature black surface insulation tiles on the upper forward fuselage and around the windows White Nomex blankets on the upper payload bay doors, portions of the upper wing and mid/aft fuselage Low-temperature white surface tiles on the remaining areas Maneuvering of the orbiter for re-entry These materials are designed to absorb large quantities of heat without increasing their temperature very much. In other words, they have a high heat capacity. During re-entry, the aft steering jets help to keep the orbiter at its 40 degree attitude. The hot ionized gases of the atmosphere that surround the orbiter prevent radio communication with the ground for about 12 minutes (i.e., ionization blackout). When re-entry is successful, the orbiter encounters the main air of the atmosphere and is able to fly like an airplane. The orbiter is designed from a lifting body design with swept back "delta" wings. With this design, the orbiter can generate lift with a small wing area. At this point, flight computers fly the orbiter. The orbiter makes a series of S-shaped, banking turns to slow its descent speed as it begins its final approach to the runway. The commander picks up a radio beacon from the runway (Tactical Air Navigation System) when the orbiter is about 140 miles (225 km) away from the landing site and 150,000 feet (45,700 m) high. At 25 miles (40 km) out, the shuttle's landing computers give up control to the commander. The commander flies the shuttle around an imaginary cylinder (18,000 feet or 5,500 m in diameter) to line the orbiter up with the runway and drop the altitude. During the final approach, the commander steepens the angle of descent to minus 20 degrees (almost seven times steeper than the descent of a commercial

(16)

airliner). Shuttle flight path for landing When the orbiter is 2,000 ft (610 m) above the ground, the commander pulls up the nose to slow the rate of descent. The pilot deploys the landing gear and the orbiter touches down. The commander brakes the orbiter and the speed brake on the vertical tail opens up. A parachute is deployed from the back to help stop the orbiter. The parachute and the speed brake on the tail increase the drag on the orbiter. The orbiter stops about midway to three-quarters of the way down the runway.

Space shuttle orbiter touching down Photo courtesy NASA After landing, the crew goes through the shutdown procedures to power down the spacecraft. This process takes about 20 minutes. During this time, the orbiter is cooling and noxious gases, which were made during the heat of re-entry, blow away. Once the orbiter is powered down, the crew exits the vehicle. Ground crews are on-hand to begin servicing the orbiter.

(17)

Parachute deployed to help stop the orbiter on landing

Photo courtesy NASA

(18)

DIMENSIONS OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR: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) were 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 orbiters maximum glide ratio/lift-to-drag ratio varied considerably with speed, ranging from 1:1 at hypersonic\ speeds, 2:1 at supersonic speeds, and reaching 4.5:1 at subsonic speeds during approach and landing.

(19)

SPACE SHUTTLE ACCIDENTS :The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 EST (16:38UTC). Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the righthand SRBs aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter. The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. Although the exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. However, the shuttle had no escape system and the astronauts did not survive the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface. The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the shuttle program and the formation of the Rogers Commission, a special commission appointed by United States President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident. The Rogers Commission found NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes had been key contributing factors to the accident. NASA managers had known contractor Morton Thiokol's design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the Orings since 1977, but failed to address it properly. They also disregarded warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching posed by the low temperatures of that morning and had failed to adequately report these technical concerns to their superiors. The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members. Debris from Columbia fell to Earth in Texas along a path stretching from Trophy Club to Tyler, as well as into parts of Louisiana. (20)

The loss of Columbia was a result of damage sustained during launch when a piece of foam insulation the size of a small briefcase broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank (the 'ET' main propellant tank) under the aerodynamic forces of launch. The debris struck the leading edge of the left wing, damaging the Shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS), which shields it from the intense heat generated from atmospheric compression during re-entry. While Columbia was still in orbit, some engineers suspected damage, but NASA managers limited the investigation, on the grounds that little could be done even if problems were found. During re-entry of STS-107, the damaged area allowed hot gases to penetrate and destroy the internal wing structure, rapidly causing the inflight breakup of the vehicle. An extensive ground search in parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas recovered crew remains and many vehicle fragments. Mission STS-107 was the 113th Space Shuttle launch. It was delayed 18 times over the two years from its planned launch date of January 11, 2001, to its actual launch date of January 16, 2003. (It was preceded by STS-113). A launch delay due to cracks in the shuttle's propellant distribution system occurred one month before a July 19, 2002 launch date. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) determined that this delay had nothing to do with the catastrophic failure six months later. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's recommendations addressed both technical and organizational issues. Space Shuttle flight operations were delayed for over two years, similar to the delay following the Challenger accident. Construction of the International Space Station was put on hold, and for 29 months the station relied entirely on the Russian Federal Space Agency for resupply until Shuttle flights resumed with STS-114 and 41 months for crew rotation until STS-121. Major changes to shuttle operations, after missions resumed, included a thorough on-orbit inspection to determine how well the shuttle's thermal protection system had endured the ascent, and keeping a designated rescue mission at the ready in case irreparable damage was found. Also it had been decided that all missions would be flown only to the ISS so that the crew could use that spacecraft as a "safe haven" if need be. Later NASA decided it would be an acceptable risk to make one exception to that policy for one final mission to repair Hubble in its high-altitude lowinclination orbit. (21)

HOW HAS THIS PROGRAM HELPED US?

Science from the space shuttle helped open Earth's eyes to the cosmos and sister planets. It created perhaps the most detailed topographical map of Earth. And it even is helping doctors understand, and sometimes fix, what's happening in our aging and ailing bodies. If you need help getting out of a crashed car, or if you're a soldier maneuvering around an active land mine field, space shuttle-derived technology may have saved your life. Most Americans wrongly credit the Apollo moon program with creating Earthly "spinoffs" of new technology that it never did: sticky Velcro, nonsticky Teflon and orange-powdered Tang all things used by NASA but not invented there. Of course spending nearly $200 billion on any advanced technology will pay off in various unplanned ways. And one scientist, a prominent critic of manned spaceflight, says NASA's claimed benefits are more hype than hope. Scientists who have worked with and for the space agency say research during the 10 years the shuttle was developed and the 30 years it has flown has paid off. "There's been a good deal of science learned on the shuttle," said MIT astronautics and health technology professor Laurence Young, who has sent experiments on seven shuttle flights, mostly on how weightlessness affects the body. Science wasn't the reason the shuttle was built, said Rice University physicist Neal Lane, who was the head of the National Science Foundation and President Bill Clinton's science adviser. However, the shuttle and the International Space Station which couldn't be constructed without the shuttle are unprecedented places for important science. People overlook the increased understanding in human biology that the shuttle and station have provided, Lane said. "We've learned some things about the human body that we had no other way to learn except to operate for some period of time some extended period of time in space." Astronauts lose bone strength, have balance problems and weakened (22)

immune systems that in many ways are similar to aging. Studying how to combat bone loss on shuttle astronauts with exercise and other activity may help the Earth-bound, they figure. Still, the most obvious science the shuttle helped generate is with astronomy. Exhibit 1 is the Hubble Space Telescope, which changed Earth's view of the cosmos and even its understanding of the age of the universe. It was launched with the shuttle, fixed with the shuttle and upgraded four other times by spacewalking shuttle astronauts. Without all that, Earth's view of the rest of the universe would have been fuzzy at best. Former NASA science chief Alan Stern said the shuttle launched three other major space exploration probes: Galileo, which gave close-up views of Jupiter and its moons; Magellan, which mapped hot chaotic Venus; and Ulysses, which examined the sun's larger influence on the edges of the solar system. But what's taken for granted even more is how the shuttle improved our view of our home planet with one flight in 2000. The spacecraft carried a set of special radar instruments that mapped most of the world, including previously inaccessible areas such as jungles and mountaintops, with the most precise topographical measurements ever. This is important for military planning and aviation. "It's a gift that is going to keep on giving. It's going to affect science, environment and national security," said University of Tennessee aviation and flight research professor John Muratore, a former NASA flight director. "And that is a really undervalued mission." Another overlooked item from the space shuttle is the bioreactor, Muratore said. It originally was designed to grow cells and tissue in space for experiments in zero gravity, but it's used on Earth for all sorts of biomedical research, he said. Bioreactors can grow blood and human tissue in a constantly rotating growth medium that simulates the free fall of zero gravity. Then, scientists can direct tissue growth in predetermined shapes using plastic lattices, much like the way ivy climbs walls. It's still a developing technology so who knows where it will lead, said Dan Lockney, NASA's spinoff technology manager Another common item is a material designed for shuttle spacesuits that controls temperature, cooling astronauts. Phase change materials from Outlast Technologies Inc. are now in socks, outdoor clothing and even (23)

some business suits, he said. Famed heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey helped develop a tiny new artificial heart pump a bridge for patients needing transplants based on fluid flow through the space shuttle main engines, the most complicated engines ever built. A few hundred people have had the device implanted. NASA helped develop a tool for fire fighters that rescues people from crashed cars that is lighter and cheaper than the famed Jaws of Life and which doesn't need an outside power source or hoses. Also, shuttle rocket fuel has been used to develop a device that safely sets off buried land mines. For MIT's Young, science on the space shuttle is ideal. Astronauts would get so familiar with the experiments they had to perform, that they became experts themselves, sometimes adapting the research and making it better. They often were co-authors of Young's published research papers.

(24)

THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM: STUNNING SUCCESS OR DISMAL FAILURE

NASA and amateur space enthusiasts portray the Shuttle program as a resounding success, but a more sober appraisal of the program's impact leads to a much less favorable verdict. The Space Shuttle was expected to provide inexpensive and reliable access to space for a multitude of missions. It never came close to achieving this goal. In retrospect the goal proved impossible due to high refurbishment costs, program delays, and the inappropriate use of humans where robots would have been better. To promote shuttle use and spread fixed costs over many flights, the Expendable Launch Vehicle (i.e., disposable rocket) programs were discontinued, so that all civilian missions could be diverted onto the Shuttle. Yet instead of being inexpensive, a single launch required approximately $1B. Schedules were compromised by endless delays and by the inspections needed to verify that the complex machinery was ready to transport humans safely. NASA underestimated the time required to service the orbiters between flights, and the launch frequency never approached the advertised rate, leading to a substantial backlog of payloads, both scientific and applied, awaiting launch. The resulting delays in science programs reached a crisis when the Challenger orbiter was lost, in effect putting America's scientific space effort on hold for over two years. Fortunately for the country, the Air Force had maintained its own Expendable Launch Vehicle capability, and the high priority surveillance satellite programs were not grounded during that period. It is difficult to estimate the overall direct and indirect cost of the Space Shuttle program, but it must be well over $100B. As these overruns occurred, funds to pay for them were extracted from the science projects the Shuttle was intended to support. Costs of science experiments launched by the Shuttle were also inflated by the need to certify the (25)

instruments as "man rated." Even such unique feats as repairing the Hubble Space Telescope seem less meritorious when one realizes that the repair mission expense was $1B and put astronauts lives at risk. That same $1B could have been used to build and launch a new Space Telescope. In short, the Space Shuttle Program was enormously expensive, led to a tragic loss of human life, and contributed little to science other than launching of scientific payloads which could have been placed in orbit better by expendable vehicles. The debate on the value of the Space Shuttle Program is but one facet of the manned vs. unmanned space flight controversy that has raged for decades. Proponents of the unmanned or robotic approach to space exploration cite the vastly lower cost, the lack of astronaut risk, and the ability to make one-way trips to distant places. It follows that unmanned programs are essential for the advancement of science in space. By contrast, manned space enthusiasts assert that having human intelligence on-site is important, that man's destiny is to explore, and that young people are inspired by the challenge of putting humans in space. They also claim that public support for the space program, both manned and unmanned, would decline if humans were not involved in flight. The merits of these arguments are debatable, but perhaps there is a role for human beings in some space experiments. However, the Shuttle Program illustrates the dangers, both financial and programmatic, of making humans the central feature of our outer space endeavors. Unfortunately, we seem likely to repeat this mistake with the International Space Station, and if we do, the United States will spend enormous sums and talent for few tangible results.

(26)

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.^ Kulkarni, Nilesh; Krishnakumar, Kalmaje. "Spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control requirements for an intelligent plug-n-play avionics (PAPA) architecture". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. NASA Ames Research Center. Retrieved 19 October 2011. 5. ^ "NASA Tech Briefs, September 1998". NASA Tech Briefs. NASA. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 6.^ "STS-113 Space Shuttle Processing Questions & Answers (NASA KSC)". Ksc.nasa.gov. November 15, 2002. Retrieved July 17, 2009. 7. ^ "www.kansascity.com". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2009. 8. ^ "NASA - Space Shuttle Night Landings". NASA. Retrieved July 23, 2011. 9.^ a b c d e Weaver, David (April 12, 2011). "VNASA Announces New Homes For Shuttle Orbiters After Retirement". NASA. Retrieved April 12, 2011. 10. ^ http://klabs.org/DEI/Processor/shuttle/shuttle_tech_con f/1985008580.pdf 11. ^ "Discovery Decommissioning Continues". Discovery RSS Archive. NASA. Retrieved 11 May 2011.

( 27)