Space Shuttle program
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The Space Shuttle program was the fourth
The
The Shuttle is the only winged crewed spacecraft to have achieved orbit and landing, and the first reusable crewed space vehicle that made multiple flights into orbit.[a] Its missions involved carrying large payloads to various orbits including the International Space Station (ISS), providing crew rotation for the space station, and performing service missions on the Hubble Space Telescope. The orbiter also recovered satellites and other payloads (e.g., from the ISS) from orbit and returned them to Earth, though its use in this capacity was rare. Each vehicle was designed with a projected lifespan of 100 launches, or 10 years' operational life. Original selling points on the shuttles were over 150 launches over a 15-year operational span with a 'launch per month' expected at the peak of the program, but extensive delays in the development of the International Space Station[2] never created such a peak demand for frequent flights.
Background
Various shuttle concepts had been explored since the late 1960s. The program formally commenced in 1972, becoming the sole focus of NASA's
The first experimental orbiter, Enterprise, was a high-altitude glider, launched from the back of a specially modified Boeing 747, only for initial atmospheric landing tests (ALT). Enterprise's first test flight was on February 18, 1977, only five years after the Shuttle program was formally initiated; leading to the launch of the first space-worthy shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. The Space Shuttle program finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011, retiring the final Shuttle in the fleet. The Space Shuttle program formally ended on August 31, 2011.[3]
Conception and development
Before the
Two designs emerged as front-runners. One was designed by engineers at the
All of this was taking place in the midst of other NASA teams proposing a wide variety of post-Apollo missions, a number of which would cost as much as Apollo or more[
Program history
All Space Shuttle missions were launched from the
The first fully functional orbiter was Columbia (designated OV-102), built in Palmdale, California. It was delivered to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on March 25, 1979, and was first launched on April 12, 1981—the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight—with a crew of two.
Challenger (OV-099) was delivered to KSC in July 1982, Discovery (OV-103) in November 1983, Atlantis (OV-104) in April 1985 and Endeavour (OV-105) in May 1991. Challenger was originally built and used as a Structural Test Article (STA-099), but was converted to a complete orbiter when this was found to be less expensive than converting Enterprise from its Approach and Landing Test configuration into a spaceworthy vehicle.
On April 24, 1990, Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into space during STS-31.
In the course of 135 missions flown, two orbiters (Columbia and Challenger) suffered catastrophic accidents, with the loss of all crew members, totaling 14 astronauts.
The accidents led to national level inquiries, detailed analysis of why the accidents occurred, and significant pauses where changes were made before the Shuttles returned to flight.[5] After the Challenger disaster in January 1986, there was a delay of 32 months before the next Shuttle launch.[6] A similar delay of 29 months occured after the Columbia disaster in February 2003.[5]
The longest Shuttle mission was STS-80 lasting 17 days, 15 hours. The final flight of the Space Shuttle program was STS-135 on July 8, 2011.
Since the Shuttle's retirement in 2011, many of its original duties are performed by an assortment of government and private vessels. The European ATV
Accomplishments
Space Shuttle missions have included:
- Spacelab missions[10] Including:
- Construction of the International Space Station (ISS)
- Crew rotation and servicing of Mir and the International Space Station (ISS)
- Servicing missions, such as to repair the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and orbiting satellites
- Human experiments in low Earth orbit (LEO)
- Carried to low Earth orbit (LEO):
- The Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
- Components of the International Space Station (ISS)
- Supplies in Spacehab modules or Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules
- The Long Duration Exposure Facility
- The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
- The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
- The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite
- The Mir Shuttle Docking Node
- Carried satellites with a booster, such as the Payload Assist Module (PAM-D) or the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), to the point where the booster sends the satellite to:
- A higher Earth orbit; these have included:
- Chandra X-ray Observatory
- The first six TDRSsatellites
- Two DSCS-III (Defense Satellite Communications System) communications satellites in one mission
- A Defense Support Program satellite
- An interplanetary mission; these have included:
- Magellan
- Galileo
- Ulysses
- A higher Earth orbit; these have included:
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U.S. Shuttle Columbia landing at the end of STS-73, 1995
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Space art for theSpacelab 2mission, showing some of the various experiments in the payload bay. Spacelab was a major European contribution to the Space Shuttle program
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European astronauts prepare for their Spacelab mission, 1984.
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SpaceLab hardware included a pressurized lab, but also other equipment allowing the Orbiter to serve as a crewed space observatory (Astro-2 mission, 1995, shown)
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AstronautsThomas D. Akers and Kathryn C. Thornton install corrective optics on the Hubble Space Telescope during STS-61.
Budget
Early during development of the Space Shuttle, NASA had estimated that the program would cost $7.45 billion ($43 billion in 2011 dollars, adjusting for inflation) in development/non-recurring costs, and $9.3M ($54M in 2011 dollars) per flight.[11] Early estimates for the cost to deliver payload to low-Earth orbit were as low as $118 per pound ($260/kg) of payload ($635/lb or $1,400/kg in 2011 dollars), based on marginal or incremental launch costs, and assuming a 65,000 pound (30 000 kg) payload capacity and 50 launches per year.[12][13] A more realistic projection of 12 flights per year for the 15-year service life combined with the initial development costs would have resulted in a total cost projection for the program of roughly $54 billion (in 2011 dollars).
The total cost of the actual 30-year service life of the Shuttle program through 2011, adjusted for inflation, was $196 billion.
Per-launch costs can be measured by dividing the total cost over the life of the program (including buildings, facilities, training, salaries, etc.) by the number of launches. With 135 missions, and the total cost of US$192 billion (in 2010 dollars), this gives approximately $1.5 billion per launch over the life of the Shuttle program.[19] A 2017 study found that carrying one kilogram of cargo to the ISS on the Shuttle cost $272,000 in 2017 dollars, twice the cost of Cygnus and three times that of Dragon.[20]
NASA used a
Accidents
In the course of 135 missions flown, two orbiters were destroyed, with loss of crew totalling 14 astronauts:
- Challenger – lost 73 seconds after liftoff, STS-51-L, January 28, 1986
- Columbia – lost approximately 16 minutes before its expected landing, STS-107, February 1, 2003
There was also one abort-to-orbit and some fatal accidents on the ground during launch preparations.
STS-51-L (Challenger, 1986)
Close-up video footage of Challenger during its final launch on January 28, 1986, clearly shows that the problems began due to an O-ring failure on the right solid rocket booster (SRB). The hot plume of gas leaking from the failed joint caused the collapse of the external tank, which then resulted in the orbiter's disintegration due to high aerodynamic stress. The accident resulted in the loss of all seven astronauts on board. Endeavour (OV-105) was built to replace Challenger (using structural spare parts originally intended for the other orbiters) and delivered in May 1991; it was first launched a year later.
After the loss of Challenger, NASA grounded the Space Shuttle program for over two years, making numerous safety changes recommended by the Rogers Commission Report, which included a redesign of the SRB joint that failed in the Challenger accident. Other safety changes included a new escape system for use when the orbiter was in controlled flight, improved landing gear tires and brakes, and the reintroduction of pressure suits for Shuttle astronauts (these had been discontinued after STS-4; astronauts wore only coveralls and oxygen helmets from that point on until the Challenger accident). The Shuttle program continued in September 1988 with the launch of Discovery on STS-26.
The accidents did not just affect the technical design of the orbiter, but also NASA.[6] Quoting some recommendations made by the post-Challenger Rogers commission:[6]
Recommendation I – The faulty Solid Rocket Motor joint and seal must be changed. This could be a new design eliminating the joint or a redesign of the current joint and seal. ... the Administrator of NASA should request the National Research Council to form an independent Solid Rocket Motor design oversight committee to implement the Commission's design recommendations and oversee the design effort.
Recommendation II – The Shuttle Program Structure should be reviewed. ... NASA should encourage the transition of qualified astronauts into agency management Positions.
Recommendation III – NASA and the primary shuttle contractors should review all Criticality 1, 1R, 2, and 2R items and hazard analyses.
Recommendation IV – NASA should establish an Office of Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance to be headed by an Associate Administrator, reporting directly to the NASA Administrator.
Recommendation VI – NASA must take actions to improve landing safety. The tire, brake and nosewheel system must be improved.
Recommendation VII – Make all efforts to provide a crew escape system for use during controlled gliding flight.
Recommendation VIII – The nation's reliance on the shuttle as its principal space launch capability created a relentless pressure on NASA to increase the flight rate ... NASA must establish a flight rate that is consistent with its resources.
STS-107 (Columbia, 2003)
The Shuttle program operated accident-free for seventeen years and 88 missions after the Challenger disaster, until Columbia broke up on reentry, killing all seven crew members, on February 1, 2003. The ultimate cause of the accident was a piece of foam separating from the external tank moments after liftoff and striking the leading edge of the orbiter's left wing, puncturing one of the reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panels that covered the wing edge and protected it during reentry. As Columbia reentered the atmosphere at the end of an otherwise normal mission, hot gas penetrated the wing and destroyed it from the inside out, causing the orbiter to lose control and disintegrate.
After the Columbia disaster, the International Space Station operated on a skeleton crew of two for more than two years and was serviced primarily by Russian spacecraft. While the "Return to Flight" mission STS-114 in 2005 was successful, a similar piece of foam from a different portion of the tank was shed. Although the debris did not strike Discovery, the program was grounded once again for this reason.
The second "Return to Flight" mission,
Following the success of STS-121, all subsequent missions were completed without major foam problems, and the construction of the ISS was completed (during the STS-118 mission in August 2007, the orbiter was again struck by a foam fragment on liftoff, but this damage was minimal compared to the damage sustained by Columbia).
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, in its report, noted the reduced risk to the crew when a Shuttle flew to the International Space Station (ISS), as the station could be used as a safe haven for the crew awaiting rescue in the event that damage to the orbiter on ascent made it unsafe for reentry. The board recommended that for the remaining flights, the Shuttle always orbit with the station. Prior to STS-114, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe declared that all future flights of the Space Shuttle would go to the ISS, precluding the possibility of executing the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission which had been scheduled before the Columbia accident, despite the fact that millions of dollars worth of upgrade equipment for Hubble were ready and waiting in NASA warehouses. Many dissenters, including astronauts [who?], asked NASA management to reconsider allowing the mission, but initially the director stood firm. On October 31, 2006, NASA announced approval of the launch of Atlantis for the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, scheduled for August 28, 2008. However SM4/STS-125 eventually launched in May 2009.
One impact of Columbia was that future crewed launch vehicles, namely the Ares I, had a special emphasis on crew safety compared to other considerations.[26]
Retirement
The Space Shuttle retirement was announced in January 2004.[27]: III-347 President George W. Bush announced his Vision for Space Exploration, which called for the retirement of the Space Shuttle once it completed construction of the ISS.[28][29] To ensure the ISS was properly assembled, the contributing partners determined the need for 16 remaining assembly missions in March 2006.[27]: III-349 One additional Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission was approved in October 2006.[27]: III-352 Originally, STS-134 was to be the final Space Shuttle mission. However, the Columbia disaster resulted in additional orbiters being prepared for launch on need in the event of a rescue mission. As Atlantis was prepared for the final launch-on-need mission, the decision was made in September 2010 that it would fly as STS-135 with a four-person crew that could remain at the ISS in the event of an emergency.[27]: III-355 STS-135 launched on July 8, 2011, and landed at the KSC on July 21, 2011, at 5:57 a.m. EDT (09:57 UTC).[27]: III-398 From then until the launch of Crew Dragon Demo-2 on May 30, 2020, the US launched its astronauts aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.[30]
Following each orbiter's final flight, it was processed to make it safe for display. The OMS and RCS systems used presented the primary dangers due to their toxic hypergolic propellant, and most of their components were permanently removed to prevent any dangerous outgassing.[27]: III-443 Atlantis is on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida,[27]: III-456 Discovery is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia,[27]: III-451 Endeavour is on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles,[27]: III-457 and Enterprise is displayed at the Intrepid Museum in New York.[27]: III-464 Components from the orbiters were transferred to the US Air Force, ISS program, and Russian and Canadian governments. The engines were removed to be used on the Space Launch System, and spare RS-25 nozzles were attached for display purposes.[27]: III-445
Preservation
Out of the five fully functional shuttle orbiters built, three remain. Enterprise, which was used for atmospheric test flights but not for orbital flight, had many parts taken out for use on the other orbiters. It was later visually restored and was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center until April 19, 2012. Enterprise was moved to New York City in April 2012 to be displayed at the Intrepid Museum, whose Space Shuttle Pavilion opened on July 19, 2012. Discovery replaced Enterprise at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Atlantis formed part of the Space Shuttle Exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex and has been on display there since June 29, 2013, following its refurbishment.[31]
On October 14, 2012, Endeavour completed an unprecedented 12 mi (19 km) drive on city streets from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center, where it has been on display in a temporary hangar since late 2012. The transport from the airport took two days and required major street closures, the removal of over 400 city trees, and extensive work to raise power lines, level the street, and temporarily remove street signs, lamp posts, and other obstacles. Hundreds of volunteers, and fire and police personnel, helped with the transport. Large crowds of spectators waited on the streets to see the shuttle as it passed through the city. Endeavour, along with the last flight-qualified external tank (ET-94), is currently on display at the Science Center's Samuel Oschin Pavilion (in a horizontal orientation) until the completion of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center (a planned addition to the California Science Center). Once moved, it will be permanently displayed in launch configuration, complete with genuine solid rocket boosters and external tank.[32][33]
Crew modules
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Rockwell 74 Passenger Module © Rockwell— host |
One area of Space Shuttle applications is an expanded crew.[34] Crews of up to eight have been flown in the Orbiter, but it could have held at least a crew of ten.[34] Various proposals for filling the payload bay with additional passengers were also made as early as 1979.[35] One proposal by Rockwell provided seating for 74 passengers in the Orbiter payload bay, with support for three days in Earth orbit.[35] With a smaller 64 seat orbiter, costs for the late 1980s would be around US$1.5 million per seat per launch.[36] The Rockwell passenger module had two decks, four seats across on top and two on the bottom, including a 25-inch (63.5 cm) wide aisle and extra storage space.[36]
Another design was Space Habitation Design Associates 1983 proposal for 72 passengers in the Space Shuttle Payload bay.[36] Passengers were located in 6 sections, each with windows and its own loading ramp at launch, and with seats in different configurations for launch and landing.[36] Another proposal was based on the Spacelab habitation modules, which provided 32 seats in the payload bay in addition to those in the cockpit area.[36]
There were some efforts to analyze commercial operation of STS.
Successors
During the three decades of operation, various follow-on and replacements for the STS Space Shuttle were partially developed but not finished.[40]
Examples of possible future space vehicles to supplement or supplant STS:[40]
- Advanced Crewed Earth-to-Orbit Vehicle
- Shuttle II, Johnson Space Center concept for a follow-on, with 2 boosters and 2 tanks mounted on its wings.[41]
- National Aero-Space Plane (NASP)
- Rockwell X-30 (not funded)
- VentureStar, SSTO spacelane concept using an aerospike engine.
- Lockheed Martin X-33 (cancelled 2001)
- Ares I (ended with Constellation cancellation)
- Orbital Space Plane Program
One effort in the direction of space transportation was the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program, initiated in 1994 by NASA.[42] This led to work on the X-33 and X-34 vehicles.[42] NASA spent about US$1 billion on developing the X-33 hoping for it be in operation by 2005.[42] Another program around the turn of the millennium was the Space Launch Initiative, which was a next generation launch initiative.[43]
The Space Launch Initiative program was started in 2001, and in late 2002 it was evolved into two programs, the Orbital Space Plane Program and the Next Generation Launch Technology program.[43] OSP was oriented towards provided access to the International Space Station.[43]
Other vehicles that would have taken over some of the Shuttles responsibilities were the HL-20 Personnel Launch System or the NASA X-38 of the Crew Return Vehicle program, which were primarily for getting people down from ISS. The X-38 was cancelled in 2002,[44] and the HL-20 was cancelled in 1993.[45] Several other programs in this existed such as the Station Crew Return Alternative Module (SCRAM) and Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV)[46]
According to the 2004 Vision for Space Exploration, the next human NASA program was to be Constellation program with its Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles and the Orion spacecraft; however, the Constellation program was never fully funded, and in early 2010 the Obama administration asked Congress to instead endorse a plan with heavy reliance on the private sector for delivering cargo and crew to LEO.
The
The
Although the Constellation program was canceled, it has been replaced with a very similar Artemis program. The Orion spacecraft has been left virtually unchanged from its previous design. The planned Ares V rocket has been replaced with the smaller Space Launch System (SLS), which is planned to launch both Orion and other necessary hardware.[51] Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft, launched on December 5, 2014, on a Delta IV Heavy rocket.[52]
Gallery
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Linear aerospike engine for the cancelled X-33
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The Dragon spacecraft, one of the Space Shuttle's several successors, is seen here on its way to deliver cargo to the ISS
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NASA's Orion Spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission seen in Plum Brook On December 1, 2019
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The Core Stage for the Space Launch System rocket for Artemis I
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The Space Launch System Core Stage rolling out of the Michoud Facility for shipping to Stennis
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The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in the process of docking to the International Space Station
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The SpaceX Crew Dragon in the process of docking to the International Space Station
Assets and transition plan
The Space Shuttle program occupied over 654 facilities, used over 1.2 million line items of equipment, and employed over 5,000 people. The total value of equipment was over $12 billion. Shuttle-related facilities represented over a quarter of NASA's inventory. There were over 1,200 active suppliers to the program throughout the United States. NASA's transition plan had the program operating through 2010 with a transition and retirement phase lasting through 2015. During this time, the
In the 2010s, two major programs for human spaceflight are Commercial Crew Program and the Artemis program. Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A is, for example, used to launch Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9.
Criticism
The partial reusability of the Space Shuttle was one of the primary design requirements during its initial development.[64]: 164 The technical decisions that dictated the orbiter's return and re-use reduced the per-launch payload capabilities. The original intention was to compensate for this lower payload by lowering the per-launch costs and a high launch frequency. However, the actual costs of a Space Shuttle launch were higher than initially predicted, and the Space Shuttle did not fly the intended 24 missions per year as initially predicted by NASA.[65][27]: III–489–490
The Space Shuttle was originally intended as a launch vehicle to deploy satellites, which it was primarily used for on the missions prior to the Challenger disaster. NASA's pricing, which was below cost, was lower than expendable launch vehicles; the intention was that the high volume of Space Shuttle missions would compensate for early financial losses. The improvement of expendable launch vehicles and the transition away from commercial payloads on the Space Shuttle resulted in expendable launch vehicles becoming the primary deployment option for satellites.[27]: III–109–112 A key customer for the Space Shuttle was the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) responsible for spy satellites. The existence of NRO's connection was classified through 1993, and secret considerations of NRO payload requirements led to lack of transparency in the program. The proposed Shuttle-Centaur program, cancelled in the wake of the Challenger disaster, would have pushed the spacecraft beyond its operational capacity.[66]
The fatal Challenger and Columbia disasters demonstrated the safety risks of the Space Shuttle that could result in the loss of the crew. The spaceplane design of the orbiter limited the abort options, as the abort scenarios required the controlled flight of the orbiter to a runway or to allow the crew to egress individually, rather than the abort escape options on the Apollo and Soyuz space capsules.[67] Early safety analyses advertised by NASA engineers and management predicted the chance of a catastrophic failure resulting in the death of the crew as ranging from 1 in 100 launches to as rare as 1 in 100,000.[68][69] Following the loss of two Space Shuttle missions, the risks for the initial missions were reevaluated, and the chance of a catastrophic loss of the vehicle and crew was found to be as high as 1 in 9.[70] NASA management was criticized afterwards for accepting increased risk to the crew in exchange for higher mission rates. Both the Challenger and Columbia reports explained that NASA culture had failed to keep the crew safe by not objectively evaluating the potential risks of the missions.[69][71]: 195–203Support vehicles
Many other vehicles were used in support of the Space Shuttle program, mainly terrestrial transportation vehicles.
- The Launch Complex 39, originally built for Project Apollo.
- The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) were two modified Boeing 747s. Either could fly an orbiter from alternative landing sites back to the Kennedy Space Center.[72]: I–377, 382 These aircraft were retired to the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at the Armstrong Flight Research Center and Space Center Houston.
- A 36-wheeled transport trailer, the Orbiter Transfer System, originally built for the Delta IV rockets) would transport the orbiter from the landing facility to the launch pad, which allowed both "stacking" and launch without utilizing a separate VAB-style building and crawler-transporter roadway. Prior to the closing of the Vandenberg facility, orbiters were transported from the OPF to the VAB on their undercarriages, only to be raised when the orbiter was being lifted for attachment to the SRB/ET stack. The trailer allowed the transportation of the orbiter from the OPF to either the SCA "Mate-Demate"stand or the VAB without placing any additional stress on the undercarriage.
- The Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV), a modified airport jet bridge, was used to assist astronauts to egress from the orbiter after landing. Upon entering the CTV, astronauts could take off their launch and reentry suits then proceed to chairs and beds for medical checks before being transported back to the crew quarters in the Operations and Checkout Building. Originally built for Project Apollo.
- The Astrovan was used to transport astronauts from the crew quarters in the Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad on launch day. It was also used to transport astronauts back again from the Crew Transport Vehicle at the Shuttle Landing Facility.
- The three locomotives serving the Natchitoches Parish Port and No. 3 sent to the Madison Railroad. Locomotive No. 2 was sent to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in 2014.[73]
See also
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References
Footnotes
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{{cite web}}
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- ^ a b Weitering, Hanneke (May 23, 2019). "NASA Has a Full Plate of Lunar Missions Before Astronauts Can Return to Moon". Space.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
And before NASA sends astronauts to the moon in 2024, the agency will first have to launch five aspects of the lunar Gateway, all of which will be commercial vehicles that launch separately and join each other in lunar orbit. First, a power and propulsion element will launch in 2022. Then, the crew module will launch (without a crew) in 2023. In 2024, during the months leading up to the crewed landing, NASA will launch the last critical components: a transfer vehicle that will ferry landers from the Gateway to a lower lunar orbit, a descent module that will bring the astronauts to the lunar surface, and an ascent module that will bring them back up to the transfer vehicle, which will then return them to the Gateway.
- ^ Grush, Loren (May 17, 2019). "NASA administrator on new Moon plan: 'We're doing this in a way that's never been done before'". The Verge. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
Now, for Artemis 3 that carries our crew to the Gateway, we need to have the crew have access to a lander. So, that means that at Gateway we're going to have the Power and Propulsion Element, which will be launched commercially, the Utilization Module, which will be launched commercially, and then we'll have a lander there.
- ^ Grush, Loren (May 17, 2019). "NASA administrator on new Moon plan: 'We're doing this in a way that's never been done before'". The Verge. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
The direction that we have right now is that the next man and the first woman will be Americans, and that we will land on the south pole of the Moon in 2024.
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Under the NASA plan, a mission to land on the moon would take place during the third launch of the Space Launch System. Astronauts, including the first woman to walk on the moon, Mr. Bridenstine said, would first stop at the orbiting lunar outpost. They would then take a lander to the surface near its south pole, where frozen water exists within the craters.
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- This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Further reading
- Shuttle Reference manual
- Orbiter Vehicles Archived February 9, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- Shuttle Program Funding 1992 – 2002
- NASA Space Shuttle News Reference – 1981 (PDF document)
- R. A. Pielke, "Space Shuttle Value open to Interpretation", Aviation Week, issue 26. July 1993, p. 57 (.pdf)
External links
- Official NASA Mission Site
- NASA Johnson Space Center Space Shuttle Site
- Official Space Shuttle Mission Archives
- NASA Space Shuttle Multimedia Gallery & Archives
- Shuttle audio, video, and images – searchable archives from STS-67 (1995) to present
- Kennedy Space Center Media Gallery – searchable video/audio/photo gallery
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the Space Shuttle
- U.S. Space Flight History: Space Shuttle Program
- Weather criteria for Shuttle launch
- Consolidated Launch Manifest: Space Shuttle Flights and ISS Assembly Sequence
- USENET posting – Unofficial Space FAQ by Jon Leech