Space Shuttle

The space shuttle is manned spacecraft, first developed by NASA in 1981 and reusable after going to and from space.

What Does the Space Shuttle Do?

   Space shuttles are designed to move large loads such as satellites into orbit and return them for repair if necessary. When space shuttles were produced, it was aimed to reduce their costs by using them again. However, as a result of subsequent research, it has been observed that they require long and expensive maintenance costs after they are used again.

   After the test flights with the Enterprise, the first space shuttle was Columbia, which was produced for the STS-1 mission and launched on April 12, 1981. The last shuttle flying is Atlantis, which performed the STS-135 mission in July 2011. Space shuttles have suffered two major disasters throughout their history. A total of 14 astronauts died in the Challenger space shuttles on January 28, 1986 and Columbia on February 1, 2003.

Space Shuttle Structure

   Space shuttles consist of three main components:

   Double rocket propulsion that provides most of the shuttle’s thrust during take-off. (Solid Rocket Booster’s SRB)

   Massive external reservoir that supplies fuel to the three main engines during launch. (External tank)

   Orbiter containing the crew cabin, orbit and three main engines. (Orbiter)

   Solid rocket boosters (SRBs) are systems that operate during the first two minutes of flight to provide the additional thrust required to put the shuttle into orbit. At the end of 45 kilometers, the risers leave the external tank and are lowered into a sea or ocean by parachutes. They are taken from here and used again afterwards.

   After the solid rocket boosters leave, the external storage is transported to an altitude of about 113 km from Earth. The shuttle does not use the energy within itself until it leaves the atmosphere. It uses an external fuel tank containing hydrogen. When leaving the atmosphere, this fuel tank is also separated from the shuttle and lowered in a planned manner. During the fall, most of it burns in the atmosphere and cannot be reused.

   The orbit is what can really be called a “shuttle”. It is the heart and brain of the system. It is the real vehicle that takes people into space and brings them back. There is a crew section on the front body where astronauts are transported. It can carry about 7-8 crew members. In the middle, there is an area where materials can be transported into space, if any. The stern also holds the orbital maneuvering system, main engines and vertical tail.

Famous Space Shuttles

• Columbia (1981-2003)

Columbia was the first space shuttle to fly in space. He made several test flights to fix problems with the heat shield and automatic landing systems. He started his main mission in 1982. Main mission activities included the deployment of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the establishment of Spacelab, which serves the Hubble Space Telescope. His last mission, the STS-107, ended in a disaster on February 1, 2003, and the seven crew members died. The reason for this was a piece of foam that fell from the outer tank during take-off and hit the channel, making a hole. Many design changes were made to the space shuttle program after the Columbia disaster.

• Challenger (1983-1986)

The Challenger was originally built as a test vehicle and later developed for spaceflight. She flew with the first American female astronaut Sally Ride and the first African American astronaut Guion Bluford Challenger. Monitoring and Data Transfer Satellite with Challenger was commissioned and the Solar Maximum Mission satellite was repaired. The shuttle exploded on January 28, 1986, during the takeoff of the STS-51L mission, and all seven astronauts on board were killed. Although the cause of the accident was explained as booster rocket seal failure, NASA management was also the target of harsh criticism. After the accident, safety procedures were revised and shuttle launch frequency slowed.

• Discovery (1984-2011)

Discovery flew on 39 different missions. The Hubble Space Telescope, the sun-tethered Ulysses spacecraft and the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite have successfully performed their missions. When John Glenn was 77 years old, he took a flight with the Discovery, which made him the oldest person to fly in space. After his last flight in 2011, his mission ended and he now awaits visitors at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy airport at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Fairfax, Va.

• Atlantis (1985-2011)

Atlantis’s first mission was in 1985, a secret military mission that is known to this day in little detail. Some of his other missions were to orbit three communications satellites on a mission, launch the Magellan spacecraft toward Venus, launch the Galileo probe toward Jupiter, fly most of the Mir program’s missions, and fly the final space shuttle mission (STS-135 in 2011). The shuttle’s mission ended in 2011 and is currently on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex near Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

• Endeavor (1992-2011)

Endeavor was produced from spare parts for other space services that replaced the Challenger space shuttle that exploded in 1986. During Endeavor’s first mission (STS-49 in 1992), team members made the first three-man spacewalk arduous. Endeavor has performed many scientific missions and was the first shuttle found in the establishment of the International Space Station. After his last assignment in 2011, it is currently displayed at the California Science Center.

Interesting Facts About Space Shuttles

   While in orbit, the space shuttle travels around the Earth at a speed of about 28,000 kilometers per hour. At this speed, the crew can see a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes.

   5 different space shuttles traveled a total distance of 826 million kilometers. This corresponds to exactly 1.3 times the distance between Earth and Jupiter. Each space shuttle (except Challenger) has traveled farther than the distance between the Earth and the Sun in total.

   The space shuttle is not just a vehicle; it is also a laboratory. Inside a special module carried on the space shuttle, there were 22 Spacelab missions where science, astronomy and physics were researched. Spacelab, a reusable lab built for use in space shuttle flights, has enabled scientists to conduct experiments on microgravity. Beginning with the Challenger missions in 1983, animals have become a fundamental component of space science. In the STS-7 mission, the social activities of ant colonies in zero gravity were examined, and six rats were flown in the Animal Enclosure module to study the behavior of animals in space during STS-8.

   The heaviest space shuttle, Columbia, weighed 80,700 kg, which is roughly the weight of 13 African elephants. After Columbia, the first space shuttle to fly, NASA sought lighter materials for use in shuttles, and some of them used on the shuttle for subsequent flights.

Author: Mr. Article

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