Space Shuttle orbiter

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Space Shuttle orbiter
ManufacturerRockwell International (North American Aircraft Operations)
Country of originUnited States
OperatorNASA
ApplicationsCrew and cargo spaceplane
Specifications
Spacecraft typeCrewed, reusable
Launch mass110,000 kg (240,000 lb)
Dry mass78,000 kg (172,000 lb)
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Dimensions
Length37.237 m (122.17 ft)
Height17.86 m (58.6 ft)
Wingspan23.79 m (78.1 ft)
Capacity
Payload to Low Earth orbit
Mass24,310 kg (53,590 lb)
Production
StatusRetired
Built6
Launched5 orbiters
135 missions
Lost2 orbiters
Maiden launchSpace Shuttle Columbia
STS-1
(April 12, 1981)
Last launchSpace Shuttle Atlantis
STS-135
(July 8, 2011)
Last retirementSpace Shuttle Atlantis
STS-135
(July 21, 2011)

The Space Shuttle orbiter is the

glider
, returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth.

Six orbiters were built for flight: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. All were built in Palmdale, California, by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Rockwell International company's North American Aircraft Operations branch. The first orbiter, Enterprise, made its maiden flight in 1977. 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. Enterprise was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing. The remaining orbiters were fully operational spacecraft, and were launched vertically as part of the Space Shuttle stack.

Columbia was the first space-worthy orbiter; it made its inaugural flight in 1981. Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis followed in 1983, 1984, and 1985 respectively. In 1986, Challenger was destroyed in a disaster shortly after its 10th launch, killing all seven crew members. Endeavour was built as Challenger's successor, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry, leaving just three remaining orbiters. Discovery completed its final flight on March 9, 2011, and Endeavour completed its final flight on June 1, 2011. Atlantis completed the final Shuttle flight, STS-135, on July 21, 2011.

In addition to their crews and payloads, the reusable orbiter carried most of the

Orbital Maneuvering System
(OMS) engines.

Description

About the size of a

reentry
.

Attitude control system

Space Shuttle forward reaction control thrusters

The

orbital plane, and eccentricity. These were all operations that required more thrust and impulse
than mere attitude control.

The forward rockets of the Reaction Control System, located near the nose of the Space Shuttle orbiter, included 14 primary and two

Mir space station. The RCS also controlled the attitude of the orbiter during most of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere – until the air became dense enough that the rudder, elevons and body flap became effective.[3]

The orbiter's OMS and RCS fuel is monomethyl hydrazine (CH3NHNH2), and the oxidizer is dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4). This particular propellant combination is extremely reactive and spontaneously ignites on contact (hypergolic) with each other. This chemical reaction (4CH3NHNH2 + 5N2O4 → 9N2 + 4CO2 + 12H2O) occurs within the engine's combustion chamber. The reaction products are then expanded and accelerated in the engine bell to provide thrust. Due to their hypergolic characteristics these two chemicals are easily started and restarted without an ignition source, which makes them ideal for spacecraft maneuvering systems.

During the early design process of the orbiter, the forward RCS thrusters were to be hidden underneath retractable doors, which would open once the orbiter reached space. These were omitted in favor of flush-mounted thrusters for fear that the RCS doors would remain stuck open and endanger the crew and orbiter during re-entry.[4]

Pressurized cabin

Space Shuttle glass cockpit (simulated, composite image)
A window on Endeavour's aft flight deck

The orbiter's flight deck or cockpit originally had 2,214 controls and displays, about three times as many as the

Apollo command module.[2]
The crew cabin consisted of the flight deck, the mid-deck, and the utility area. The uppermost of these was the flight deck, in which sat the Space Shuttle's commander and pilot, with up to two mission specialists seated behind them. The mid-deck, which was below the flight deck, had three more seats for the rest of the crew members.

The galley, toilet, sleep locations, storage lockers, and the side hatch for entering and exiting the orbiter were also located on the mid-deck, as well as the

EVA
), and also to repressurize and re-enter the orbiter at the conclusion of the EVA.

The utility area was located under the floor of the mid-deck and contained air and water tanks in addition to the carbon dioxide scrubbing system.

Propulsion

Atlantis's main engines during launch

Three

flight control. The hydraulic pressure generated was also used to control all of the orbiter's flight control surfaces
(the elevons, rudder, speed brake, etc.), to deploy the landing gear of the orbiter, and to retract the umbilical hose connection doors located near the rear landing gear, which supplied the orbiter's SSMEs with liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the external tank.

Two

solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were used to take the vehicle to an altitude of roughly 140,000 feet.[6]

Electrical power

Electric power for the orbiter's

cryogenic
storage tanks in the mid-fuselage underneath the payload bay liner, and a variable number of such tank sets could be installed (up to five pairs) depending on the requirements of the mission. The three fuel cells were capable of generating 21 kilowatts of power continuously (or a 15-minute peak of 36 kilowatts) with the orbiter consuming an average of about 14 kilowatts of that power (leaving 7 kilowatts for the payload).

Additionally, the fuel cells provided

potable water
for the crew during the mission.

Computer systems

The orbiter's computer system consisted of five identical

IBM AP-101 avionics computers, which redundantly controlled the vehicle's on-board systems. The specialized HAL/S programming language was used for orbiter systems.[8][9]

Thermal protection

Discovery's ventral thermal protection system

The orbiters were protected by

Teflon. This was especially true in the interior of the payload bay.[13][14][15][11]

Structure

The orbiter's structure was made primarily from

fused silica glass, and comprised an internal pressure pane, a 1.3-inch-thick (33 mm) optical pane, and an external thermal pane.[16] The windows were tinted with the same ink used to make American banknotes.[17]

Landing gear

Atlantis's landing gear are deployed following STS-122.

The Space Shuttle orbiter had three sets of landing gear which emerged downwards through doors in the heat shield. As a weight-saving measure, the gear could not be retracted once deployed. Since any premature extension of the landing gear would very likely have been catastrophic (as it opened through the heat shield layers), the landing gear could only be lowered by manual controls, and not by any automatic system.

Similarly, since the Shuttle landed at high speed and could not abort its landing attempt, the gear had to deploy reliably on the first try every time. The gear were unlocked and deployed by triple redundant hydraulics, with the gear doors actuated by mechanical linkages to the gear strut. If all three hydraulic systems failed to release the landing gear uplocks within one second of the release command, pyrotechnic charges automatically cut the lock hooks and a set of springs deployed the gear.

During landing, the Shuttle nose wheel could be steered with the rudder pedals in the cockpit. During the construction of Space Shuttle Endeavour, an improved nose wheel steering system was developed which allowed easier and more effective nose wheel steering. After Endeavour's roll-out, the system was installed on the other shuttles during their overhauls in the early 1990s.

Lack of navigational lights

The Space Shuttle orbiter did not carry

landing lights, because the orbiter always landed in areas that had been specially cleared by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Air Force. The orbiter always landed at either Edwards Air Force Base, California or at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, Florida, except STS-3 at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Similar special clearances (no-fly zones) were also in effect at potential emergency landing sites, such as in Spain and in West Africa
during all launches.

When an orbiter landing was carried out at night, the runway was always strongly illuminated with light from floodlights and spotlights on the ground, making landing lights on the orbiter unnecessary and also an unneeded spaceflight weight load. A total of 26 landings took place at night, the first being STS-8 in September 1983.[18]

Markings and insignia

The Space Shuttle orbiter ranks second among the world's first spaceplanes, preceded only by the North American X-15 and followed by the Buran, SpaceShipOne, and the Boeing X-37.
Enterprise displaying the orbiter markings.

The typeface used on the Space Shuttle orbiter was Helvetica.[19]

The prototype orbiter Enterprise originally had a flag of the United States on the upper surface of the left wing and the letters "USA" in black on the right wing. The name "Enterprise" in black was painted on the payload bay doors just above the forwardmost hinge and behind the crew module; on the aft end of the payload bay doors was the NASA "worm" logotype in gray. Underneath the rear of the payload bay doors on the side of the fuselage just above the wing was the text "United States" in black with a flag of the United States ahead of it.

The first operational orbiter, Columbia, originally had the same markings as Enterprise, although the letters "USA" on the right wing were slightly larger and spaced farther apart. Columbia also had black tiles which Enterprise lacked on its forward RCS module, around the cockpit windows, and on its vertical stabilizer. Columbia also had distinctive black chines on the forward part of its upper wing surfaces, which none of the other orbiters had.

Gray NASA "worm" logotype used on the orbiters from 1982 to 1998.

Challenger established a modified marking scheme for the shuttle fleet that would be matched by Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. The letters "USA" in black above an American flag were displayed on the left wing, with the NASA "worm" logotype in gray centered above the name of the orbiter in black on the right wing. Also, the name of the orbiter was inscribed not on the payload bay doors, but on the forward fuselage just below and behind the cockpit windows. This would make the name visible when the orbiter was photographed in orbit with the doors open. Challenger also had black tiles on the tip of its vertical stabilizer much like Columbia, which the other orbiters lacked.

In 1983, Enterprise had its wing markings changed to match Challenger, and the NASA "worm" logotype on the aft end of the payload bay doors was changed from gray to black. Some black markings were added to the nose, cockpit windows and vertical tail to more closely resemble the flight vehicles, but the name "Enterprise" remained on the payload bay doors as there was never any need to open them. Columbia had its name moved to the forward fuselage to match the other flight vehicles after STS-61-C, during the 1986–1988 hiatus when the shuttle fleet was grounded following the loss of Challenger, but retained its original wing markings until its last overhaul (after STS-93), and its unique black chines for the remainder of its operational life.

NASA "meatball" insignia used on the operational Space Shuttle orbiters after 1998.

Beginning in STS-95 (1998), the flight vehicles' markings were modified to incorporate the NASA "meatball" insignia. The "worm" logotype, which the agency had phased out, was removed from the payload bay doors and the "meatball" insignia was added aft of the "United States" text on the lower aft fuselage. The "meatball" insignia was also displayed on the left wing, with the American flag above the orbiter's name, left-justified rather than centered, on the right wing. The three surviving flight vehicles, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, still bear these markings as museum displays. Enterprise became the property of the Smithsonian Institution in 1985 and was no longer under NASA's control when these changes were made, hence the prototype orbiter still has its 1983 markings and still has its name on the payload bay doors.

Retirement

With the end of the Shuttle program, plans were made to place the three remaining Space Shuttle orbiters on permanent display. NASA Administrator

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. Endeavour went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles arriving on October 14, 2012. Atlantis went to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on November 2, 2012. Hundreds of other shuttle artifacts will be put on display at various other museums and educational institutions around the U.S.[20]

One of the Crew Compartment Trainer Flight and mid-deck training hardware is on display at the

Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum in Starke, Florida.[27] NASA also made approximately 7,000 TPS tiles available to schools and universities.[28]

Shuttle Orbiter Specifications (OV-105)

Data from [29]

General characteristics

  • Crew: Eight: Commander, pilot, three mission and three payload specialists
  • Capacity: 2-8 passengers or 25,060 kg (55,250 lb)
  • Length: 122 ft 2.0 in (37.237 m)
  • Wingspan: 78 ft 1 in (23.79 m)
  • Height: 58 ft 7 in (17.86 m)
  • Wing area: 2,690 sq ft (249.9 m2) [30]
  • Empty weight: 171,961 lb (78,000 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 242,508 lb (110,000 kg)
  • Payload to LEO: 24,310 kg (53,590 lb)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 17,320 mph (27,870 km/h, 15,050 kn)
  • Range: 120–600 mi (190–960 km, 100–520 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 607,000–2,110,000 ft (185,000–643,000 m)
  • Maximum glide ratio: Variable with speed, 1:1 at
    subsonic speed[31]

The cargo bay is 60 ft (18 m) by 15 ft (4.6 m),[32] and could transport 24,400 kg (53,800 lb) to 204 km (127 mi), or 12,500 kg (27,600 lb) to the ISS at 407 km (253 mi).[33] The most massive payload launched by the Space Shuttle was the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 at 50,162 lb (22,753 kg), including its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and support equipment.[34] The Shuttle was capable of returning approximately 16,000 kg (35,000 lb) of cargo to Earth.[35]

The orbiter's 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.[31]

Fleet

Shuttle launch profiles. From left to right: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.

Individual Space Shuttle orbiters were named in honor of antique sailing ships of the navies of the world (though the test orbiter Enterprise, originally to be named "Constitution", had its name changed after

Orbiter Vehicle designation system. Three of the names had also been given to Apollo spacecraft between 1969 and 1972: Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, Apollo 15 Command Module Endeavour, and Apollo 17
Lunar Module Challenger.

While all of the orbiters were externally practically identical, they had minor differences in their interiors. New equipment for the Orbiters was installed in the same order that they underwent maintenance work, and the newer orbiters were constructed by Rockwell International, under NASA supervision, with some more advanced, lighter in weight, structural elements. Thus, the newer orbiters (Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour) had slightly more cargo capacity than Columbia or Challenger.

The Space Shuttle orbiters were assembled at Rockwell's assembly facility in

Plant 42
complex.

Orbiter Vehicle Designation

Each NASA Space Shuttle designation was composed of a prefix and suffix separated by a dash. The prefix for operational shuttles is OV, for Orbiter Vehicle. The suffix is composed of two parts: the series and the vehicle number; "0" was used for non-flight ready orbiters, and "1" was used for flight-ready orbiters. The vehicle number is sequentially assigned within the series, beginning with 1. Therefore, there can never be an OV-100 as it would read "Orbiter Vehicle Series 1 Vehicle 0". Many proposals to build a second generation of orbiters, externally compatible with the current system but internally new, refer to them as "OV-200" or "OV-2xx" in order to differentiate them from the "first generation", the OV-100s. This terminology is informal, and it is unlikely that any Shuttle-derived vehicle built will be given such designation. Challenger was originally intended to be used as a Structural Test Article (STA), rather than a flight-capable orbiter; as such, the numbering was changed when it was rebuilt. Enterprise, on the other hand, was intended to be rebuilt into a flight-capable orbiter; it was found to be cheaper to rebuild STA-099 than OV-101, so it remained unflown. The designations were not altered, despite these changes in plans. An "OV-106" designation was given to the set of structural components manufactured to replace those used in the construction of Endeavour; however, the contract for these was canceled shortly afterwards, and they were never completed.[37] The "096" and "097" designators were given to structural test articles that were canceled, but while they exist in some NASA records, the NASA History Office has no official record of STA-096 and STA-097.[38]

Orbiter vehicles Test articles
Designation Vehicle Designation Vehicle
OV-099 [a] Challenger OV-095 Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) mockup
OV-101 Enterprise STA-096 ECLSS Structural Test Article
OV-102 Columbia STA-097 Vibro Acoustic Structural Test Article
OV-103 Discovery OV-098 [b] Pathfinder
OV-104 Atlantis MPTA-098 Main Propulsion Test Article
OV-105 Endeavour
  1. ^ Formerly known as STA-099.
  2. ^ Retroactive honorary designation

Test article

Test Articles
Picture
OVD
Name Notes
OV-095 - Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, simulator for actual flight hardware and software system testing and training
OV-098 [a] Pathfinder Orbiter simulator for moving and handling tests. Currently on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
MPTA-098
Testbed for propulsion and fuel delivery systems
STA-099 Structural test article used for stress and thermal testing, later became Challenger
OV-101 Enterprise First atmospheric free flight August 12, 1977. Used for approach and landing tests, not suitable for spaceflight. Formerly located at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the orbiter is currently located on the flight deck of the
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.[20]

Operational orbiters

Operational Orbiters
Name Picture
OVD
First flight Number of flights Last flight Status [39] Ref.
Atlantis
OV-104 STS-51-J
October 3–7, 1985
33 STS-135
July 8–21, 2011
Retired.
Displayed at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
[40]
Challenger
OV-099 STS-6
April 4–9, 1983
10 STS-51-L
January 28, 1986
Destroyed.
Disintegrated due to faulty solid rocket booster on January 28, 1986. Debris buried at Cape Canaveral LC-31.
[41]
Columbia
OV-102 STS-1
April 12–14, 1981
28 STS-107
January 16 – February 1, 2003
Destroyed.
Broke up on reentry due to wing damage during launch on February 1, 2003. Remains of orbiter stored at Vehicle Assembly Building.
Discovery
OV-103 STS-41-D
August 30, 1984
39 STS-133
February 24, 2011
Retired.
Displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
[42]
Endeavour
OV-105 STS-49
May 7, 1992
25 STS-134
May 16, 2011
Retired.
Displayed at California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.
[43]
Enterprise
OV-101 ALT Free Flight#1
August 12, 1977
5 (suborbital) ALT Free Flight #5
October 26, 1977
Retired.
Displayed at
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
in New York City.
[44]
  • Challenger was first launched on April 4, 1983. On January 28, 1986, it disintegrated 73 seconds after launch on its 10th mission.
  • Atlantis was first launched on October 3, 1985. It flew 33 spaceflights including the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, in July 2011.
  • Endeavour was first launched on May 7, 1992. It flew 25 spaceflights, the final being STS-134, launched May 16, 2011.

Mockups

In addition to the test articles and orbiters produced for use in the Shuttle program, there are also various mockup replicas on display throughout the United States:

Mockups
Name Picture Replicates Location Status
Adventure
Forward fuselage Space Center Houston Removed
America
Full Six Flags Great America Removed
Inspiration (California)[45]
Most except left-wing, vertical stabilizer, and payload bay doors Columbia Memorial Space Center Removed
Independence
Full Space Center Houston On Display
Inspiration (Florida)[46]
Full Shuttle Landing Facility On Display
  • Resolution!, a full-scale replica of an orbiter crew-compartment, originally built to house an amateur flight simulator but later intended for use by Kennedy Space Center firefighters to practice rescue techniques.[47] Now abandoned and nearly destroyed by nature and neglect.[48]

Flight statistics

Key
 Test vehicle
 Lost
Shuttle Designation Flights Flight time Orbits Longest flight First flight Last flight Mir
dockings
ISS dockings Sources
Flight Date Flight Date
Enterprise OV-101 5 00d 00h 19m 0 00d 00h 05m ALT-12 12 August 1977 ALT-16 26 October 1977 [49][50][51][52]
Columbia OV-102 28 300d 17h 47m 15s 4,808 17d 15h 53m 18s STS-1 12 April 1981 STS-107 16 January 2003 0 0 [49][50][53][54][55]
Challenger OV-099 10 62d 07h 56m 15s 995 08d 05h 23m 33s STS-6 4 April 1983 STS-51-L 28 January 1986 0 0 [49][50][56][57]
Discovery OV-103 39 364d 22h 39m 29s 5,830 15d 02h 48m 08s STS-41-D 30 August 1984 STS-133 24 February 2011 1 13 [49][50][58][59]
Atlantis OV-104 33 306d 14h 12m 43s 4,848 13d 20h 12m 44s STS-51-J 3 October 1985 STS-135 8 July 2011 7 12 [49][50][60][61]
Endeavour OV-105 25 296d 03h 34m 02s 4,677 16d 15h 08m 48s STS-49 7 May 1992 STS-134 16 May 2011 1 12 [49][50][62][63]
Total 135 1330d 18h 9m 44s 21,158 9 37


Flight history timeline

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Unofficial honorary designation

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