Space Shuttle

By:Nathen Weckesser

Space Shuttle Components

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Space shuttles consists of three main components. Orbiter houses the crew. Large external fuel tank holds fuel for main engines and burns up in the atmosphere. Two solid rocket boosters the provide most of the shuttles life during the first two minutes.

Basics of Shuttle

Launch

First Stage Asent

Second State Asent

Orbit

Landing

Columbia

• First Shuttle Mission

Demonstrate safe launch into orbit and safe return of the orbiter and crew. Verify the combined performance of the entire shuttle vehicle - orbiter, solid rocket boosters and external tank.

• Launched: April 12, 1981

Commander John W. Young and Pilot Robert L. Crippen. 

• Landing: April 14, 1981

• The mission lasted 2 days, 6 hours, and 20 minutes.

• Miles Traveled: 1.074 million

Challenger

• Launched: Jan. 28, 1986

Commander Francis R. Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialists Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair and Payload Specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and Sharon Christa McAuliffe.

• The mission lasted 1 minute, 13 seconds

• Miles Traveled: 18 miles

• Just after liftoff, a strong puff of gray smoke was spurting from the right solid rocket booster. At approximately 37 seconds, Challenger encountered the first of several high-altitude wind shear conditions, which lasted until about 64 seconds. Then there was massive, almost explosive, burning of the hydrogen streaming from the failed tank bottom. At this point, while traveling at Mach 2 at an altitude of 46,000 feet, Challenger was totally enveloped in the explosive burn.

Discovery

• Hubble Space Telescope Deploy

• Launched: April 24, 1990

      Commander Loren J. Shriver, Pilot Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Mission Specialists Steven A. Hawley, Bruce McCandless II and Kathryn D. Sullivan.

• Landing: April 29, 1990

• The mission lasted 5 days, 1 hour, 16 minutes, 6 seconds

• Miles Traveled: 2.1 million

• Scientists were excited about this billion dollar telescope that may be able to explain space.

• The vision of the telescope was blurry (near sighted).

• The Endeavour was sent 3 years after and repaired it.

Woman in Space

The first woman in space was Sally Ride.

Citations

• (Kerley, nasa.gov, 2011)

• (nasa.gov, 1979)

• http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_STS.html

• http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/012/cache/space-shuttle-atlantis_1223_600x450.jpg

• http://www.aerospaceguide.net/spaceshuttle/challenger.jpg

• http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/discovery/images/1-space-shuttle-discovery.jpg

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Ride_on_the_Middeck_-_GPN-2000-001081.jpg/250px-Ride_on_the_Middeck_-_GPN-2000-001081.jpg

• http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/wood-car.jpg

Citations

• (Kerley, nasa.gov, 2011)

• (nasa.gov, 1979)