Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle missions can only be launched during windows of time which allow the vehicle to reach the orbit required for that particular mission. This is generally calculated to rendezvous with the International Space Station but has also been designed to launch commercial or military satellites or rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope for repairs and upgrades.

NASA prefers to launch in the daylight to allow for maximum visibility during ascent to spot any debris impacting the orbiter for further inspection in orbit. Practically speaking, times when weather is calmest is best as it lessens the chance of weather related scrubs.

The shuttle landing facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is 15,000 feet long with 1,000 feet of paved overruns at each end. Runways at Edwards Airforce Base in California are between 4 and 7.5 miles long.

It is unlikely to see the space shuttle go over Iowa as the program was retired in 2011. However, you may be able to see other spacecraft or satellites passing over the state. Consider using websites or apps that track satellite positions for viewing opportunities.

A space shuttle's main engines generated about 1.2 million pounds of thrust, which is approximately equivalent to 37 million horsepower. This immense power was needed to lift the heavy spacecraft off the ground and accelerate it into orbit.

The Space Shuttle is not capable of going to the moon.

The current US space shuttles are Atlantis, Endeavour, and Discovery.

Because the space station is in such a bad orbit for US spacecraft to launch to, it takes about 2 days in space for the shuttle to rendevous with the space station. The space station was built by the US & Russians, spacecraft from both countries had to be able to send supplies up on a regular basis, so the orbit of the ISS is difficult for the shuttle to reach.

The percentage of astronauts that die per year is extremely low. Out of over 500 people who have flown to space, around 3-4% have died during a mission (Challenger and Columbia disasters), giving an average annual astronaut fatality rate of less than 1%. Astronauts undergo intense training and missions are carefully planned to minimize risks.

Two ships leave their dock at the Kennedy Space Center several days ahead of a launch and are positioned in the Atlantic Ocean, in the general area approximately 130 nautical miles from the Florida coast where the solid rocket boosters return to Earth.

When the boosters are jettisoned, they descend by means of parachutes and land in the ocean.

Divers close off the bottom each booster and pump them with compressed air to remove the seawater. The now floating boosters are towed by each ship back to the Kennedy Space Center where they are disassembled and returned via rail to Thiokol in Utah for refurbishment and repacked with solid propellent. Segments of the boosters are returned via rail to the Kennedy Space Center for use on a future shuttle mission.

A space shuttle slowdown on reentry is one of the biggest achievements of Aerospace Engineering. What happens is when shuttle comes in contact with earth's atmosphere then because of friction with air particles it gets too hot below its surface (because of which Columbia disaster happens) this heat gives a very large amount of energy to shuttle which should be removed to slow it down from almost 26000Kmph to 200-300 kph and this is done by 5 supercomputers on board of shuttle with almost no involvement of humans accepted.

What they do is that they tilt the shuttle on its middle axis pointing towards outer end of the wing so that air can easily flow through other wing to cool it down but strictly direction of landing path is not changed (because this may cause sever damage to shuttle at this speed) this is done to cool down the shuttle before touching the ground.

This process is repeated many times on both of the wings to cool down the shuttle, at the end when shuttle looses max of its potential ,kinetic and thermal energy the shuttle becomes an airplane type and all the controls is transferred to the pilot for save landing on airport.

The shuttle assembly attaches to the launch pad through a series of bolts and mechanical connections. Once the shuttle is positioned on the launch pad, it is secured in place using these fastening mechanisms to ensure stability during countdown and liftoff.

Challenger - Blew up from a faulty O-Ring on the main Fuel tank/Rocket.

Columbia - Burned up on re-entry

Atlantis

Discovery

Endeavour

The space shuttle external tank was made primarily of aluminum with a foam insulation layer applied to its exterior surface. The aluminum provided structural strength while the foam insulation helped regulate the temperature of the propellants inside the tank.

Yes, there would still be gravity on a spaceship in open space due to the ship's acceleration creating a force similar to gravity. The direction of this artificial gravity would be towards the floor of the spaceship, simulating the gravitational pull we experience on Earth.

The maiden flight of the space shuttle program was April 12, 1981. You are probably refering to the 1969 Apollo 11 manned flight to the Moon which carried Neil Armstrong, Edwin [Buzz] Aldwin and Michael Collins to the historic landing in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20. Six hours after touchdown, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon and Buzz Aldwin became the second. Michael Collins remained on the "mother ship" in lunar orbit. After a two and one half hour moon walk during which they collected 50 pounds of moon rocks, the duo blasted off from the surface of the moon and rejoined Michael Collins in orbit. On July 24, 1969 they safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

The Challenger was 74 seconds in-flight when it exploded.

The space shuttle stands at 184 feet (56 meters) high, on top of a mounded pad.

Yes, there is the force of gravity when the Space Shuttle is in space. The Earth's gravity is a force which continues throughout space, however diminishing as it travels further out (similar to the suns light traveling throughout space). A good example of the gravity's force in space would be the tool bag lost on a spacewalk which fell back to Earth. Also, the gravity in space seems much less due to the fact there is very little to no atmosphere weighing on the space craft (depending on altitude). On Earth atmosphere at sea level ways 14.7 pounds per square inch and gets lighter as you climb.

The Space shuttle cannot go beyond low earth orbit, but assuming you were traveling at the shuttle's orbital speed of 17,600 mph it would take approximately 7 months to reach the sun (the nearest star to earth), and approximately 160,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the sun.

The first mission to carry a teacher into space was a Challenger mission in 1986. This mission ended in tragedy when the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch. All aboard died, including teacher, Christa McAuliffe.

The cost to refuel the space shuttle varies, but historically it has been estimated to be around $500 million for a single launch, including the cost of fuel and other expenses such as personnel and maintenance. This high cost is due to the specialized nature of the fuel used by the space shuttle and the complex processes involved in preparing and launching the spacecraft.

A space rocket is a type of vehicle used to propel spacecraft into space, while a space shuttle refers to a specific type of spacecraft that can carry crew and cargo to and from space. Space shuttles are reusable vehicles that are launched like a rocket but land like an airplane.

Space Shuttle Challenger (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia being the first. Its maiden flight was on April 4, 1983, and it completed nine missions before breaking apart 73 seconds after the launch of its tenth mission, STS-51-L on January 28, 1986, resulting in the death of all seven crew members.

The Space Shuttle Discovery never experienced an explosion. It was a NASA shuttle that had successful missions between 1984 and 2011. The Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Columbia disaster in 2003 were two separate incidents involving other space shuttle missions that resulted in tragic losses.

That depends on how good your eye-sight is. How far can you see? ^Very funny. But seriously, I remember seeing the shuttle launch once when I was a kid growing up in N. Carolina, which must have been at least 500 miles from Cape Canaveral. ^^In that case at least 500 miles! ^^^uk sucks.