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I'm writing an essay titled the Physics of a Shuttle Mission, which is broken down into the journey into orbit, orbital maneuvering and re-entry.

The biggest problem at the moment is with example calculations. For example the delta v required for OMS-1 and OMS-2. This is because it seems impossible to find info on the Shuttle's velocities and altitudes beyond about T plus 8min. And I believe that OMS-1 occurs at around T plus 10min 30 sec.

Does anyone have any specific numerical data on OMS-1 and OMS-2? Or could point me to a place that has this information.

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  • $\begingroup$ You want to know delta V for OMS-1 and -2? FYI, most flights did not perform OMS-1. $\endgroup$
    – Organic Marble
    Commented Sep 2, 2016 at 14:17
  • $\begingroup$ I understand that most shuttle flights did not perform OMS-1, but surely there has to be some sort of generic data on the velocities and altitudes involved with these maneuvers? $\endgroup$
    – Darth Vader
    Commented Sep 2, 2016 at 14:22
  • $\begingroup$ OK, answered below. $\endgroup$
    – Organic Marble
    Commented Sep 2, 2016 at 14:26

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The Delta-V for most OMS 1 & 2 burns performed during the Space Shuttle program is available in the ever-useful Space Shuttle Missions Summary document in the LAUNCH SITE LIFTOFF TIME column.

For example, here is the data for STS-135. Planned and actual.

enter image description here

Edit: just noticed you asked about altitude as well. The altitude at OMS-2 burn isn't explicitly called out in that document, but it does give the orbital altitudes for post OMS-2. Since OMS-2 was a perigee raising burn, and was performed at apogee, you can use the apogee number for "post OMS 2" as a close approximation. For STS-135 this was 124.3 nm.

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  • $\begingroup$ One question on the units used for Velocity, is FPS feet per second? $\endgroup$
    – Darth Vader
    Commented Sep 2, 2016 at 14:49
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    $\begingroup$ That's correct. $\endgroup$
    – Organic Marble
    Commented Sep 2, 2016 at 14:55

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