How does the space shuttle launch from earth?

Answer 1

The Shuttles, like most launch vehicles, are essentially controlled explosions, using directed energy from volatile chemical combustion to propel them into space.

The Shuttles use 2 external, reusable, Solid Fuel Rocket Boosters (SRB's) which are attached to an external fuel tank which contains separate internal tanks of Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen, as well as other rocket propellants. The SRB's separate from the external tank, deploy parachutes when clear, and are recovered in the ocean by 2 specially designed recovery vessels.

The Lox/LH fuel is what the Shuttle Main Engines use for fuel during launch; along with the thrust from the SRB's, it's enough to propel it into orbit, and pretty fast too. Watching a Shuttle launch on TV is deceiving, since NASA's long-range cameras keep the Shuttle in view for a lot longer than the visible eye can see it from Kennedy Space Center. Seeing a launch from KSC, the Shuttle is out of view within less than 90 seconds, even at night.

The launch facility is pretty interesting; the Shuttles are moved from the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB), originally built to assemble the Saturn V Moon rockets, on a huge crawler that serves as its launch platform, out to one of 2 main pads at KSC, Pad 39A or 39B. There is a huge concrete engine blast redirection/water muffler system in place below where the Shuttle sits; just prior to Main Engine/SRB ignition, water from a huge tank is dumped into the area just below the Shuttle to muffle the noise from the engines and SRB's. The white cloud seen at launch isn't from the engines or SRB's; it's from the water being turned to steam. Without the water system, the launch noise would be much louder than it is already.

There is also an Astronaut Emergency Egress System in place on the service gantry, which is a long cable slide system that takes them to an Armored Personnel Carrier located on the ground a few hundred yards away. It's more psychological than practical though.

What most people don't know also is that the entire service gantry that fuels and provides service access to the Shuttle must be completely repainted after each launch, since the heat from the engines SRB's burns off most of the paint, and blackens the rest that isn't.