The orbiters themselves did carry hypergolic propellants for their Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters and Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines.Ībout the size of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, the Space Shuttle orbiter resembled an airplane in its design, with a standard-looking fuselage and two double delta wings, both swept wings at an angle of 81 degrees at their inner leading edges and 45 degrees at their outer leading edges. Additionally, two reusable solid rocket boosters (SRBs) provided additional thrust for approximately the first two minutes of launch. In addition to their crews and payloads, the reusable orbiter carried most of the Space Shuttle System's liquid-propellant rocket system, but both the liquid hydrogen fuel and the liquid oxygen oxidizer for its three main rocket engines were fed from an external cryogenic propellant tank. Atlantis completed the final Shuttle flight, STS-135, on July 21, 2011. Discovery completed its final flight on March 9, 2011, and Endeavour completed its final flight on June 1, 2011. In 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry, leaving just three remaining orbiters.
Endeavour was built as Challenger 's successor, and was first launched in 1992.
In 1986, Challenger was destroyed in an accident shortly after its 10th launch. Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis followed in 1983, 1984, and 1985 respectively. The remaining orbiters were fully operational spacecraft, and were launched vertically as part of the Space Shuttle stack.Ĭolumbia was the first space-worthy orbiter it made its inaugural flight in 1981. Enterprise was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing.
Nasa orbiter processing facility shuttle flo series#
An unpowered glider, it was carried by a modified Boeing 747 airliner called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and released for a series of atmospheric test flights and landings. The first orbiter, Enterprise, made its maiden flight in 1977. All were built in Palmdale, California, by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Rockwell International company. Six orbiters were built for flight: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. space agency, this vehicle could carry astronauts and payloads into low Earth orbit, perform in-space operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider, returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth. Operated from 1977 to 2011 by NASA, the U.S. The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle, a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program. It is pointed out that during the Space Shuttle era, when the number of spacecraft to be processed simultaneously at Kennedy will double or triple, all spacecraft processing facilities will be required to handle the workload.Discovery approaches the International Space Station (ISS) on STS-121 Horizontally handled spacecraft such as Spacelab, which are inserted into the Orbiter cargo bay while it is in the Orbiter Processing Facility in the horizontal position, are assembled and checked out within the Operations and Checkout Building, where the CITE tests are performed and the Spacelab will be disassembled, and then transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility. The processing flow for vertically handled spacecraft, which are inserted into the Shuttle orbiter cargo bay while the orbiter is in the vertical position and often are attached to a separate solid booster stage, includes assembly into unified payloads in the Vertical Processing Facility, followed by Cargo Integration Test Equipment tests to ensure cargo bay compatibility, and transportation to the launch pad. The spacecraft processing techniques to be used at the Kennedy Space Center for the assembly and check-out of Space Shuttle cargoes are discussed.
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