The bay could hold satellites, modules containing whole laboratories, and construction materials for the International Space Station. The mid-fuselage housed a 60-foot (18-meter) payload bay and robotic arm. The largest crew size for a shuttle mission was eight astronauts. The crew compartment, located in the forward fuselage, normally carried crews of seven astronauts, but occasionally carried fewer people. It was 122 feet (37 meters) long and had a wingspan of 78 feet (23 m). The orbiter was about the same size as a DC-9 aircraft. The orbiter is the component most people think of as "the shuttle." It was the heart and brains of the system and the actual ship that took people to space and brought them back. Most of it burned up in the atmosphere, and the rest fell into the ocean. With its fuel spent, the tank separated and fell along a planned trajectory. (Image credit: NASA)Īfter the solid rocket boosters separated, the orbiter carried the external tank to about 70 miles (113 km) above the Earth. Once empty, this huge orange tank separated from the rest of the apparatus and fell back to Earth. It served as the "gas tank" for the space shuttle on launch. The external tank was the only part of the space shuttle not reused from launch to launch. Ships recovered them, and they were refurbished for reuse. About 24 miles (45 kilometers) up, the boosters separated from the external tank and descended on parachutes into the Atlantic Ocean. The solid rocket boosters (SRBs) operated for the first two minutes of flight to provide additional thrust needed to get the shuttle into orbit. The orbiter, which contained the crew cabin, payload bay, and three main engines. The huge rust-colored external tank, which fed fuel to the three main engines during launch.Two solid rocket boosters, which provided most of the shuttle's thrust during launch.The space shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System, was made up of three main components : (Image credit: NASA/Dick Clark ) Space shuttle elements and launch More details and images of the Enterprise can be found at shuttle Atlantis is seen through the window of a Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) as it launches from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the STS-135 mission, Jin Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the final shuttle mission. Shuttle Enterprise in 2010 being readied to fly again It has not yet been determined where it will be going, but engineers have been inspecting the Enterprise to make sure it is in ship shape and ready to again be ferried atop a modified 747. According to CollectSpace, one of the orbiters that has been flown in space is expected to take the place of the Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center annex, so the Enterprise will have to be moved. It is currently on display in an annex to the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA.Īs noted before the Space Shuttle fleet is being retired this year. The shuttle has been housed at the Smithsonian Institution since 1985. The Shuttle Enterprise was never actually launched into space, but was used for flight tests. More info on STS 134 Wiki Page.įamously NASA’s first space Shuttle prototype was named Enterprise in 1976 after Star Trek fans successfully lobbied NASA. You can see them at the NASA Space Flight Awareness Page. In recent years NASA has created a number of these kinds of pop-culture referencing posters for Shuttle and ISS Missions, including another Trek-themed poster from one of last year’s ISS Expeditions (see previous TrekMovie report). Star Trek 2009 banner which inspired NASA The poster is an obvious homage to the official banner posters for the 2009 Star Trek movie. Mission Poster for STS 134 (download at ) As they do for each Mission, NASA created a special mission poster (primarily used internally) and for STS 134 they were inspired by the latest Star Trek movie, check it out. The mission will deliver a number of new components for the International Space Station, including the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (how is that for some Trek sounding tech?). Space Shuttle Mission 134, slated to launch July 29th 2010 will be the final mission for Space Shuttle Endeavour and the second to last mission of the Shuttle program before the fleet is retired later this year. The Future Begins (and Ends) for Endeavour Check it out below, plus news on how Space Shuttle Enterprise is preparing to fly again. Once again life imitates art with NASA looking to Star Trek for inspiration for their new poster for the final mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
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