From the first launch on April 12, 1981 to the final landing on July 21, 2011, NASA’s space shuttle fleet flew 135 missions, helped construct the International Space Station and inspired
Space Shuttle Era
From the first launch on April 12, 1981 to the final landing on July 21, 2011, NASA’s space shuttle fleet flew 135 missions, helped construct the International Space Station and inspired generations.
NASA’s space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on April 12, 1981 and continued to set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions. Starting with Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit repeatedly, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station. The final space shuttle mission, STS-135, ended July 21, 2011 when Atlantis rolled to a stop at its home port, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Born in 1968 at the height of the Apollo program, the Space Shuttle was designed to fulfill two basic roles in NASA post-Apollo manned flight objectives. The first goal of the Space Shuttle program was to provide NASA with an efficient, re-usable method of carrying astronauts to and from a permanently manned space station. At the time, NASA envisioned a space station which would be staffed by 12 to 24 people. The space station was intended to assure a permanent manned U.S. presence in space following the Apollo lunar landings. The space station would support a plethora of scientific research objectives, plus act as an engineering and support base for manned journeys to the planets. In addition, NASA believed that Space Shuttles could serve as multi-purpose satellite delivery vehicles with the potential to completely replace Atlas-Centaur, Delta and Titan rockets. The words “cheap” and “routine” were the words which most closely matched the objectives for Space Shuttles as expressed by NASA. Of course, history would prove otherwise.
On January 31, 1969, NASA issued feasibility design study contracts for their “Integrated Launch and Re-entry Vehicle” (ILRV). Invitations were given to four aerospace contractors to present design proposals on re-usable and partially re-usable manned spacecraft. These companies presented reports to NASA by November 1, 1969. They unanimously recommended a fully re-usable, two-stage vehicle. Early in 1970, NASA refined their technical requirements for the vehicle. The name “Space Shuttle” first appeared in the “purpose” section of an official invitation for production contract bids issued on February 18, 1970. The name “Space Shuttle” subsequently became a permanent fixture for the vehicle, which NASA agreed should incorporate a fully re-usable, two-stage design.
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This is an Aerospace engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft, focused on designing aeroplane and space shutlle and it is a study of all the flying wing used within the earth’s atmosphere. Also dealing with the Avionic systems that includes communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems. Also dealing with Aircraft mishap such as Accident and Serious Incident.
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#aerospace_engineering #avionic_systems #aerospace_navigation #aircraft_mishap #aviation_accident #aviation_invetigation
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