Questions tagged [space-shuttle]
The Space Shuttle was a crewed, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft operated by NASA from 1981 to 2011.
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Modeling attitude control: ramping/easing between attitude commands?
Say you switch from your current guidance program to a brand new program that commands your spacecraft to a different attitude. Assume the new attitude is a discontinuous step change from your ...
3
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1answer
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RCS jet select algorithms (e.g. in space shuttle)?
I'm looking for a clear description of RCS jet selection logic. The space shuttle, for instance, had tens of RCS thrusters, only three of which would be called to fire at a time given a 3D attitude ...
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Were all three Mobile Launch Platforms ever in use simultaneously?
With an optimistic view on the future, NASA built a Vertical Assembly Building with four bays and three Mobile Launch Platforms. They were later repurposed for the Space Shuttle and other launch ...
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1answer
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Oleg Kononenko in Space Shuttle suit?
I have seen a photo of Oleg Kononenko wearing the Space Shuttle flight suit, with the NASA badge on it. However, he never flew in the Shuttle, and there’s no mention on the Wikipedia page about him ...
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Why is the mid-deck on the Space Shuttle named as it is?
The (retired) NASA Space Shuttles has two decks. The flight deck, and the mid-deck.
Why is the mid-deck called "mid-deck"? It is not the middle of three decks. Shouldn't it, strictly ...
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Is “Stranded in the middle of the room” by retired NASA astronaut Dan Barry the unvarnished truth? [closed]
There is a passage/section called "Stranded in the middle of the room" in a book called "Space Shuttle (sic): The First 20 Years -- The Astronauts' Experiences in Their Own Words" ...
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1answer
183 views
Help me find old study of huge space shuttle with 1,000 ton payload
In the late 1970s/early 1980s I read a study about up-sizing the space shuttle to carry 1,000 tons(!) payload to earth orbit. There was a crude drawing of such a beast, and if I remember correctly, ...
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1answer
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Why was the Cape Canaveral Skid Strip never used for a Space Shuttle's landing?
Why did NASA build the Shuttle Landing Facility, and initially land the shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base, instead of landing it at the CCAFS Skid Strip? It's definitely long enough, because once a ...
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Isn't Starship way too big?
The Shuttle was designed with a huge payload of 20 tons. This was supposed to not be a problem since:
the reusability would drive down costs until satellite operators dropped expensive space hardware ...
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4answers
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Was the space shuttle design negatively influenced by science fiction?
The space shuttle looked like space ships in Star Trek and a lot of other science fiction movies/TV. Did people's expectation of what a space vehicle should look like, based on futuristic movies/tv ...
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Did the U.S. Space Shuttles have a way for crew to bail out?
This recent question regarding the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster mentions the possibility that the crew could have bailed out if the orbiter could have successfully descended to 25,000 feet before ...
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Space shuttle PEG ascent burns
I'm reading a public document on the powered explicit guidance algorithm used in the space shuttle.
The document suggests that PEG ascent maneuvers always involved at least three phases:
Constant ...
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Why were the SRBs rolled out of the VAB without the rest of the Shuttle stack?
This answer shows the following photo of two Shuttle solid rocket boosters, mounted on the mobile launch platform without the external tank or orbiter, and driven outside the Vehicle Assembly Building....
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What is super heavy booster? What will it be used for?
Also called BN1, right?
Please explain me what is booster and what will it be used for?
Also feel free to give me additional insights other than included in my question about BN1.
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1answer
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When were Shuttle crew absolutely required to have their seat belts fastened and their tray tables in their full upright position?
@OrganicMarble's comment says:
Rhea Seddon describes in her bio standing and walking around in the shuttle middeck in the early part of entry when g's were low. "...I had this funny sensation of ...
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1answer
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How were STS SRBs disassembled
What was the process for disassembling the SRBs following their recovery?
Was it broken down to the field or factory seal level of segments, and how was it taken apart?
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Shuttle had heat radiators, but Starship has none - why?
Heat radiators were a big deal for the Space Shuttle - once the bay doors were closed it was important to deorbit quite quickly.
The SpaceX Starship doesn't appear to have specific radiator ...
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Why do many comets & asteroids keep moving through the solar system, but space ships need fuel to do so?
Why do many comets & asteroids keep moving through the solar system (for centuries), after they were dislodged from their parent bodies after a cosmic event/explosion?
But a space-shuttle ...
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Is this really a picture of John Young?
This article from the Smithsonian Air and Space magazine is about eyeglasses for astronauts. The following quote about legendary astronaut John Young is immediately followed by a picture:
Even ...
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During space shuttle reentry, why was the sign of GALR based on mach number rather than directly on alpha?
(My apologies if this should go in Aviation.SE instead - I'm not quite certain where questions regarding the behaviour of the shuttle's flight controls during reentry should go.)
For flight in ...
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1answer
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Is there an easy way to distinguish pictures of the LES and ACES suits?
The Launch Entry Suit and Advanced Crew Escape Suit were the intravehicular suits used on most Space Shuttle missions. ACES was an improved version of the LES, and both earned the nickname "...
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Detailed description of space shuttle major and minor GNC loops
Warning: repetitive question ahead. Please skip if you're tired of splitting hairs on these things.
Is there a detailed description of the major and minor GNC loops of the space shuttle? I've learned ...
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1answer
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Noninertial effects a problem in strapdown IMUs?
Unlike stable-platform IMUs, which are fixed in space and therefore inertial, strapdown IMUs are fixed to the vehicle's body and therefore noninertial.
Would noninertial effects distort the strapdown ...
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2answers
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Space shuttle state propagation---constant acceleration during cycle?
The space shuttle used a state propagation algorithm to estimate the current state vector when new data weren't yet available from the navigation system (which would come at a rate of only 0.25 or 0.5 ...
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1answer
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Was space shuttle position corrected for before orbital insertion?
The space shuttle derived its attitude and state vector primarily from its integrating accelerometers and rate gyros.
Data from the accelerometers and rate gyros came in at a low rate (0.25-0.5 Hz, or ...
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Space shuttle state propagation
Space shuttle training manuals say the GNC system obtains state information from the IMU platform at a low rate (0.25-0.5Hz) and that state propagation algorithms estimate the vehicle's state vector ...
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1answer
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Space shuttle position and velocity calculations from IMUs?
How were the space shuttle's rate gyro and accelerometer outputs converted into reliable position and velocity vectors before being fed into GNC software? Is there a document detailing those ...
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1answer
58 views
What were the Shuttle TPS repair patches made of?
Following the incident on STS-107, three methods of dealing with damaged tiles were developed.
The method for large tile damage involved screwing a very thin plate over the hole, after loosely filling ...
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1answer
197 views
How did they get away with sticking tiles with spit for so long?
The STS Orbiter was infamous for losing tiles. This occurred at a higher rate than expected.
I understand the epoxy used to attach the tiles to the shuttle cured extremely quicky, so a fresh batch ...
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0answers
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How large can heatshield holes be?
The tiles on the underside of the STS Orbiter had gaps between them to allow for the frame underneath to shift slightly. However, if the gaps were too large fillers were used.
What controls the ...
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1answer
144 views
Would the space shuttle do a yaw maneuver to avoid the tower?
I read some rockets do a small yaw maneuver of about a degree immediately after T0 to avoid the tower in case of wind gusts.
Would the space shuttle ever do such a maneuver? Did it?
I read also that ...
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1answer
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Space shuttle Initial ADI frame Before Switch to LVLH?
The space shuttle crew switched the ADI frame to LVLH as soon as the roll maneuver was completed.
They waited for that time because the LVLH frame is in mathematical gimbal lock (singularity) when ...
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1answer
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Which reference frame for space shuttle PEG orbital insertion?
Which frame were the space shuttle's orbital insertion attitude targets specified in?
The shuttle had three frame choices: LVLH, INRTL, and REF (an inertial frame whose attitude the crew could lock in ...
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Why no yaw in ADI when LVLH is selected?
The space shuttle would display the spacecraft's attitude in one of three frames: LVLH, REF, or INRTL.
Launch procedures called for LVLH to be selected very early in launch.
The attitude indicator ...
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1answer
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LVLH frame based on inertial velocity or relative (ground) velocity?
The LVLH frame is widely used in rockets during launch. The space shuttle crew used it in its attitude readings beginning very early after launch, meaning it was very reliable as soon as the rocket ...
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1answer
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What order were space shuttle roll-pitch-yaw angles displayed in?
The space shuttle had a digital readout of roll-pitch-yaw angles in a chosen frame (inertial, LVLH, or reference).
What rotation sequence did they assume in that digital readout? Was it roll-pitch-yaw?...
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1answer
646 views
Space shuttle orbital insertion altitude for ISS rendezvous?
What altitude did the space shuttle normal target for orbital insertion on ISS rendezvous missions?
In the likely case that there isn't a single typical number: can you give a number the shuttle might ...
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0answers
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What would space shuttle digital attitude display show during flipover
The space shuttle used quaternions for navigation, guidance, and control which don't suffer from the singularities that affect euler angle sequences.
Yet, the attitude indicator had a digital readout ...
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1answer
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How can firing a Space Shuttle OMS engine below 21 km cause its nozzle to “collapse”?
This answer to Can the space shuttle use OMS engines during landing? says:
No
and quotes Section 3.7 of the Orbital Maneuvering System Workbook; OMS 21002 October 10, 2006, Final version, USA006500 ...
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Can the space shuttle use OMS engines during landing?
Can the space shuttle use its OMS engines if the shuttle is short during the runway approach? Is fuel available for use in such a situation and will the engines provide reasonable thrust to get to the ...
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1answer
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Which RS-25s are on the Artemis 1 rocket?
The SLS core to be used for the Artemis 1 flight will use four RS-25 engines. These reusable engines were used on the Space Shuttle Orbiter previously.
Is there a listing of which SSMEs are planned ...
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1answer
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How did the Space Shuttle prevent flying up when reentering the atmosphere?
Always when reentering the atmosphere, the shuttle was pitched up, right? When gliding through the mesosphere, how was it that it didn't fly up again then? Was it due to a certain distribution of ...
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2answers
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Can the Space Shuttle land on Mars assuming there is a paved surface for landing?
Can the Space Shuttle land on Mars if it had a paved runway?
Can the Space Shuttle use aerobraking and will its control surfaces provide attitude control?
Can the parachute and braking systems stop ...
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1answer
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Rocket dashboard: separation/pyro indicators
I'm curious about rocket dashboards. Separation events are big things and they depend on pyro bolts detonating and linear charges or pneumatic pushers firing immediately afterward. There must be ...
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1answer
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Gimbal Check: Before or After Engine Ignition?
Is the engine gimbal check done before or after ignition?
Also curious: How many seconds does the check take? What does it consist of? Do they gimbal each engine separately, or do they gimbal all ...
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1answer
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First Ham Radio contact from space; what frequency, what kind of antenna, and how did they route the coax out the window?
From Phys.org's Earthlings and astronauts chat away, via ham radio:
NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock was just a few weeks into his six-month mission at the space station when feelings of isolation began ...
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Why is unappetizing food brought along to space?
I read at some point about a Shuttle mission that ended up lasting longer than initially intended, and the crew had to eat more awful-tasting food for the last few days, because they had eaten through ...
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1answer
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Why does SpaceX Crew Dragon not have planned holds?
I watched the launches of SpaceX Crew Demo 2 and Crew 1. I observed that there were no planned holds during the last hour of the countdown.
The Space Shuttle had planned holds at T-20 minutes and T-9 ...
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Was the Martin Spacemaster a feasible design for a fully reusable launch system?
The first time I saw this design was in this post and I was intrigued. The Martin Spacemaster from ~1970. What a cool design! Lots of SSME's, fully reusable, asymmetrical cockpit, and air breathing ...
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What if a Space Shuttle entered the atmosphere of Venus?
How would a U.S. Space Shuttle's atmospheric entry on Venus differ from reentry on Earth? Say there's a Space Shuttle in a low Venus orbit performing a (re-)entry burn. How would the following ...
