Space Shuttle

The Space Task Group is established in the Late 1960's by Richard Nixon in order to brainstorm the future of America's space exploration.

The Space Shuttle Program was officially started on January 2, 1972 under President Nixon.

After countless problems were discovered and rectified, the first official Shuttle launch took place on April 12, 1981.

For the NASA webpage that highlights the history of the Space Shuttle Program click the following link:

http://history.nasa.gov/sts25th/history.html

For a .pdf listing of the missions click the following link:

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/537939main_2011.05.09_SpaceShuttleWallChart.pdf

That's a matter of opinion. Here's mine:

Probably the V2 rocket that started it all. Or even the Saturn V - the rocket that

launched the Apollo capsules and Skylab. The US space shuttle and the Russian

Soyuz rocket are also very well-known.

Spacecraft use rockets to propel themselves into space by generating thrust to overcome Earth's gravity. Once in space, they can navigate using thrusters and guidance systems. Solar panels or onboard fuel cells provide power, and various systems maintain life support for astronauts on board.

The final space shuttle launch was on July 8, 2011. The shuttle Atlantis embarked on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station, marking the end of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

Various missions by space agencies such as NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos have explored space beyond the moon. These missions have sent spacecraft to planets like Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, as well as to distant objects like asteroids and comets. Robotic probes like Voyager, Cassini, and New Horizons have provided valuable data about our solar system and beyond.

The space shuttle is launched into Outer Space by having it attached to the rocket that launches up as well as the space shuttle and gradually the rocket falls apart and lands in the Pacific ocean. It often lands there. The space shuttle then continues its mission alone.

The space shuttle typically traveled at speeds of around 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) to break through the Earth's atmosphere during launch. This high speed was necessary to overcome the force of gravity and enter into orbit around the Earth.

The Space Shuttle used to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. Rocket launches now take place from various locations around the world, depending on the spacecraft and mission.

A spacecraft needs a reliable propulsion system, life support systems for crew, communication equipment, power supply (such as solar panels or batteries), thermal control systems, navigation instruments, and payload storage for scientific instruments or supplies.

It is impossible to predict with certainty what will happen in the year 4900. As of now, our understanding of future events beyond a certain point is limited. It is likely that advancements in technology, society, and the environment will continue to shape and influence the world in unforeseeable ways.

The amount of gas needed for a 10-ton spaceship to reach outer space would depend on the type of propulsion system used, the distance to outer space, and other variables. Generally, it would require a significant amount of fuel to overcome Earth's gravity and reach escape velocity.

The "Ascent Guidance and Flight Control Training Manual," ASC G&C 2102,

says:

"During the vertical rise phase, the launch pad attitude is

commanded until an I-loaded V(rel) sufficient to assure launch tower

clearance is achieved. Then, the tilt maneuver (roll program)

orients the vehicle to a heads down attitude required to generate a

negative q-alpha, which in turn alleviates structural loading. Other

advantages with this attitude are performance gain, decreased abort

maneuver complexity, improved S-band look angles, and crew view of

the horizon. The tilt maneuver is also required to start gaining

downrange velocity to achieve the main engine cutoff (MECO) target

in second stage."

This really is a good answer, but it's couched in NASA jargon. I'll try

to interpret.

1) We wait until the Shuttle clears the tower before rolling.

2) Then, we roll the Shuttle around so that the angle of attack

between the wind caused by passage through the atmosphere (the

"relative wind") and the chord of the wings (the imaginary line

between the leading edge and the trailing edge) is a slightly

negative angle ("a negative q-alpha"). This causes a little bit of

"downward" force (toward the belly of the Orbiter, or the +Z

direction) and this force "alleviates structural loading."

We have to be careful about those wings -- they're about the

most "delicate" part of the vehicle.

3) The new attitude (after the roll) also allows us to carry more

mass to orbit, or to achieve a higher orbit with the same mass, or

to change the orbit to a higher or lower inclination than would be

the case if we didn't roll ("performance gain").

4) The new attitude allows the crew to fly a less complicated

flight path if they had to execute one of the more dangerous abort

maneuvers, the Return To Launch Site ("decreased abort maneuver

complexity").

5) The new attitude improves the ability for ground-based radio

antennae to have a good line-of-sight signal with the S-band radio

antennae on the Orbiter ("improved S-band look angles").

6) The new attitude allows the crew to see the horizon, which is a

helpful (but not mandatory) part of piloting any flying machine.

7) The new attitude orients the Shuttle so that the body is

more nearly parallel with the ground, and the nose to the east

(usually). This allows the thrust from the engines to add velocity

in the correct direction to eventually achieve orbit. Remember:

velocity is a vector quantity made of both speed and direction.

The Shuttle has to have a large horizontal component to its

velocity and a very small vertical component to attain orbit.

This all begs the question, "Why isn't the launch pad oriented to give

this nice attitude to begin with? Why does the Shuttle need to roll to

achieve that attitude?" The answer is that the pads were leftovers

from the Apollo days. The Shuttle straddles two flame trenches -- one

for the Solid Rocket Motor exhaust, one for the Space Shuttle Main

Engine exhaust. (You can see the effects of this on any daytime

launch. The SRM exhaust is dirty gray garbage, and the SSME exhaust is

fluffy white steam. Watch for the difference between the "top"

[Orbiter side] and the "bottom" [External Tank side] of the stack.) The

access tower and other support and service structure are all oriented

basically the same way they were for the Saturn V's. (A side note: the

Saturn V's also had a roll program. Don't ask me why -- I'm a Shuttle

guy.)

I checked with a buddy in Ascent Dynamics. He added that the "roll

maneuver" is really a maneuver in all three axes: roll, pitch and yaw.

The roll component of that maneuver is performed for the reasons

stated. The pitch component controls loading on the wings by keeping

the angle of attack (q-alpha) within a tight tolerance. The yaw

component is used to determine the orbital inclination. The total

maneuver is really expressed as a "quaternion," a grad-level-math

concept for combining all three rotation matrices in one four-element

array.

When a rocket launches, thrust is generated by the engine pushing against the ground, causing the rocket to move upwards. This thrust is produced by the combustion of fuel inside the rocket engine. Additionally, gravity acts on the rocket, pulling it down towards the Earth, while air resistance creates drag forces that the rocket must overcome.

Here's one wild and crazy idea: Why not ask her some questions about things

that you're interested in, things that you're curious about, things that you want

to know, things that your friends want to know.

If you run dry, you can always go to the standard softball list: Did you want

to be an astronaut when you were a little girl ? What was your first mission ?

What has been your favorite mission ? How did it feel ? What have your missions

accomplished ?

But personally, I would recommend against those. The same ones will be on everybody

else's list, and these are questions that you could ask ANY famous space woman.

You need questions that can be answered ONLY by Sunita Williams. Of course,

you may have to spend some time READING ( ! :-( ! ) about her before you can

think of those. Sorry. That's how interviewing works.

The space shuttle typically landed at a speed of around 200-225 miles per hour (320-360 kilometers per hour). The exact speed varied depending on factors such as the size of the payload and weather conditions.

Being at least 6 miles away from a space shuttle launch is for safety reasons. During launch, there can be debris and toxic gases that can be harmful if you are too close. The 6-mile distance ensures that spectators are at a safe distance in case of any malfunctions or accidents.

Yuri Gagarin was the first human to travel into space on April 12, 1961. He was a Soviet astronaut. Alan Shepard was the first American astronaut in space on May 5, 1961, as part of the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission.

A spaceship is propelled through space using rocket engines that expel gases at high speeds to create thrust. The principle of action and reaction, as described by Newton's third law of motion, is what propels the spaceship forward.

This is a very general question.

There are a wide variety of spaceship engines which utilise a wide range of differing mechanisms in which to propel a spacecraft.

In general spaceships engines 'work' by using Newtons Third Law which states:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite re-action.

This means that if a spaceship engine produces an exhaust that leaves the spaceship, then the spaceship's engine and hence the spaceship will be pushed in the opposite direction.

The American Space Shuttle's main engines and its RCS (reaction control system) operate in this manner.

There are some variation in spaceship engine designs, for example Project Orion was a nuclear engine design which would fire nuclear bombs out of the rear of the spaceship (0.15 KT bombs for the 4000 ton spaceship design).

Whilst the firing of the nuclear bomb out of the back of the spaceship would provide a tiny bit of thrust, the majority of this engines thrust was provided when the bomb exploded 200 feet from the spaceship.

The blast wave from the explosion would hit the rear of the spaceship on a specially designed 'pusher plate' and the force of the plasma wave hitting this pusher plate moved the spaceship forward.

Project Orion never proceeded beyond a few small chemical explosive based prototypes due to concerns over the use of nuclear weapons inside the Earths atmosphere but I have included as an example of how varied some spaceship engines can be.

The last ever space shuttle to be launched was launched on 9/7/11. America have stopped making them because it is too expensive for them.

Orbital times vary as a function of the height of the orbiting vehicle or object. The higher its altitude, the longer it takes to make an orbit. The ISS and space shuttle are in low earth orbit and take approximately ninety minutes to complete one orbit.

No shuttles have blown up in space. The Challenger disintegrated after launch on Jan 28, 1986 and the Columbia disintegrated during re-entry on Feb 1, 2003. Both were in the earth's atmosphere when they disintegrated.

Launching the space shuttle program cost approximately $450 million per mission. However, the space shuttle program has been retired, and new space missions are now using alternative spacecraft such as SpaceX's Crew Dragon or NASA's SLS.