SPACE SHUTTLE
A
spaceplane is an aircraft designed to fly up to extreme altitudes into
space and back to the Earth's surface. It combines some of the features
of an aircraft and some of a spacecraft.Typically, it takes the form of a spacecraft equipped with wings, although lifting bodies have been designed. The propulsion to reach space may be purely rocket based or may use the assistance of air-breathing engines.
Only
pure rocket spaceplanes have succeeded in reaching space, although
several have been carried up to an altitude of several tens of thousands
of feet by conventional aircraft before release.
All spaceplanes to date have used rocket engines. Rockets are the only kind of engines that work in space. Due to the circularising burn necessarily being done in space, orbital spaceplanes require rocket engines for at least that portion of the flight.
ROCKET ENGINE
A rocket engine is a jet engine that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law. Since they need no external material to form their jet, rocket engines can be used for spacecraft propulsion as well as terrestrial uses, such as missiles. Most rocket engines are internal combustion engines, although non combusting forms also exist.
Rocket engines produce thrust by the expulsion of a high-speed fluid exhaust. This fluid is nearly always a gas which is created by high pressure (10-200 bar) combustion of solid or liquid
propellants, consisting of fuel and oxidiser components, within a combustion chamber.
The fluid exhaust is then passed through a propelling nozzle which typically uses the heat energy of the gas to accelerate the exhaust to very high speed, and the reaction to this pushes the engine in the opposite direction.
In rocket engines, high temperatures and pressures are highly desirable for good performance as this permits a longer nozzle to be fitted to the engine, which gives higher exhaust speeds, as well as giving better thermodynamic efficiency.
SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER
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.
STRUCTURE
The orbiter structure is made primarily from aluminium 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 optical pane, and an external thermal pane. The windows are tinted with the same ink used to make American banknotes.
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.
THE ORBITER'S PAYLOAD BAY
The Orbiter has a large 60 by 15 ft (18 m by 4.6 m) payload bay which is vented to vacuum, filling most of the mid-fuselage. The payload bay doors have heat radiators mounted on their inner surfaces, and so are kept open for thermal control while the Shuttle is in orbit. Thermal control is also maintained by adjusting the orientation of the Shuttle relative to Earth and Sun. Inside the payload bay is the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SMRS), also known as the "Canadarm", a robot arm used to retrieve and deploy payloads.
SPECIFICATIONS
• 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 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 PROPULSION OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER
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.
THE ASTRONAUT'S ACCOMODATIONS
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 his 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. Actually, the maximum number of astronauts that can be carried by the Orbiter is eight.
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.
All spaceplanes to date have used rocket engines. Rockets are the only kind of engines that work in space. Due to the circularising burn necessarily being done in space, orbital spaceplanes require rocket engines for at least that portion of the flight.
ROCKET ENGINE
A rocket engine is a jet engine that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law. Since they need no external material to form their jet, rocket engines can be used for spacecraft propulsion as well as terrestrial uses, such as missiles. Most rocket engines are internal combustion engines, although non combusting forms also exist.
Rocket engines produce thrust by the expulsion of a high-speed fluid exhaust. This fluid is nearly always a gas which is created by high pressure (10-200 bar) combustion of solid or liquid
propellants, consisting of fuel and oxidiser components, within a combustion chamber.The fluid exhaust is then passed through a propelling nozzle which typically uses the heat energy of the gas to accelerate the exhaust to very high speed, and the reaction to this pushes the engine in the opposite direction.
In rocket engines, high temperatures and pressures are highly desirable for good performance as this permits a longer nozzle to be fitted to the engine, which gives higher exhaust speeds, as well as giving better thermodynamic efficiency.
SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER
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.
STRUCTURE
The orbiter structure is made primarily from aluminium 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 optical pane, and an external thermal pane. The windows are tinted with the same ink used to make American banknotes.
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.
THE ORBITER'S PAYLOAD BAY
The Orbiter has a large 60 by 15 ft (18 m by 4.6 m) payload bay which is vented to vacuum, filling most of the mid-fuselage. The payload bay doors have heat radiators mounted on their inner surfaces, and so are kept open for thermal control while the Shuttle is in orbit. Thermal control is also maintained by adjusting the orientation of the Shuttle relative to Earth and Sun. Inside the payload bay is the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SMRS), also known as the "Canadarm", a robot arm used to retrieve and deploy payloads.
SPECIFICATIONS
• 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 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 PROPULSION OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER
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.
THE ASTRONAUT'S ACCOMODATIONS
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 his 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. Actually, the maximum number of astronauts that can be carried by the Orbiter is eight.
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.
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