Space Shuttle

The space shuttle named after two famous ships was the Space Shuttle Discovery. Henry Hudson's ship was called "Discovery" and Captain James Cook's ship was called "Endeavour." Discovery made its first flight in 1984 and completed 39 successful missions during its operational life.

Christa McAuliffe, the teacher selected to fly on the Challenger space shuttle, was in space for just over a minute before the shuttle tragically exploded on January 28, 1986. The accident occurred 73 seconds after liftoff.

During stage 5 of a shuttle flight, the orbiter performs a deorbit burn to slow down and descend back to Earth's atmosphere. The orbiter then re-enters the atmosphere, where it faces intense heat and deceleration. Finally, the orbiter glides to a landing at the designated site.

Satellites and the space shuttle orbit in the thermosphere, a layer of the Earth's atmosphere located between the mesosphere and exosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere can reach up to 2,500°C due to the absorption of solar radiation.

The space shuttles lost to accidents were the Challenger, which disintegrated in 1986 shortly after launch, and the Columbia, which broke apart during re-entry in 2003. Both accidents resulted in the loss of all crew members aboard.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a habitable, artificial satellite (space station) in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes. The ISS serves as a research laboratory that has a microgravity environment in which crews conduct experiments in many fields including biology, human biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology.

The space shuttle experienced about 3 G's (3 times the force of Earth's gravity) during launch. This force occurred as the shuttle accelerated into space to overcome Earth's gravity.

The outside shield of a space shuttle is called the Thermal Protection System (TPS). It is designed to protect the spacecraft from the extreme temperatures experienced during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

The glowing effect seen during re-entry is caused by the extreme heat generated by the friction between the shuttle and the Earth's atmosphere. This heat is a result of the shuttle's high speed and the compression of air in front of it. As the shuttle travels through the atmosphere, the intense heat causes its surface to glow and appear to be "burning up."

The space shuttle Challenger made history as the first shuttle to carry an African-American astronaut, Guion Bluford, and the first American woman astronaut, Sally Ride, into space. However, Challenger is also tragically remembered for the 1986 disaster that resulted in the loss of the entire crew just after launch.

The space shuttle was assembled in various stages. The main components included the orbiter, solid rocket boosters, and external fuel tank. These components were manufactured by different contractors and then brought together for final assembly at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle program involved thousands of engineers, technicians, and workers to design, build, and test the shuttle before each mission.

The first thing that will have to improve is cost.

Once the cost starts to come down you can afford to improve comfort and speed, those two things are what keeps the average person from traveling from planet to planet.

So when the cost comes down you can afford to make the process comfortable enough that the average person could endure the trip, making it faster will make it cheaper again, making space travel more available to everyone.

The space mission is going to Mars.

Space waste can pose a risk to operational spacecraft and satellites due to the potential for collision. It can also contribute to the growing issue of space debris, which can further exacerbate the risks of collisions in orbit. Proper waste management practices are essential to mitigate these risks and preserve the sustainability of outer space activities.

A parachute is used in a space mission to slow down and safely land a spacecraft or a probe back on Earth. It helps to reduce the speed of descent, allowing for a controlled landing and protecting the equipment inside from damage.

The space shuttle typically takes about 8.5 minutes to reach orbit, during which it accelerates to speeds exceeding 17,000 miles per hour (Mach 25) to escape Earth's atmosphere. It experiences intense heat and pressure during this ascent as it travels through the different layers of the atmosphere.

No, not all space shuttle launches occurred in Florida. While the majority of space shuttle launches took place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, there were also some launches conducted from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The next space shuttle to be launched by NASA will be the Space Launch System (SLS), not a shuttle. SLS is a powerful rocket that will be used for missions beyond low Earth orbit, including the Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon.

The three phases of a space shuttle flight are launch, on-orbit operations, and re-entry and landing. Launch involves liftoff from Earth, on-orbit operations refer to activities while the shuttle is in space, and re-entry and landing entail the shuttle returning to Earth and landing safely.

5 were built

Columbia

Discovery

Atlantis

Endeavor

Challenger

space shuttles fly in space and then like an aeroplane it lands on a runway with a parachute flying out the back

A space shuttle traveling at its maximum speed of about 17,600 miles per hour would take over 73,000 years to reach the nearest star (Proxima Centauri) located about 4.24 light years away from Earth. This journey is far beyond the capabilities of current space travel technology.

The last words spoken by the crew of the space shuttle Challenger were "go at throttle up" seconds before the shuttle exploded. Due to the tragedy, communication was lost and the crew were unable to say any more words.

Yes, Sharon Lucid served as a Mission Specialist for space shuttle flight crews. She was selected by NASA in 1978 and went on to participate in five space shuttle missions with various roles including Mission Specialist and Payload Commander.