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Close-up of a Space Shuttle …
A remote camera captures a c …
1/1/81
Description A remote camera captures a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss.
Date 1/1/81
Columbia Liftoff
title Columbia Liftoff
date 04.12.1981
description Space Shuttle Columbia liftoff from Complex 39A during the first launch of the space shuttle. *Image Credit*: NASA
Aerial View of Columbia Laun …
Title Aerial View of Columbia Launch
Full Description Aerial view of the STS-2 Columbia launch from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, taken by astronaut John Young aboard NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA).
Date 11/12/1981
NASA Center Johnson Space Center
Maxime A. Faget
Title Maxime A. Faget
Full Description Maxime A. Faget, an aeronautical engineer with a B.S. from Louisiana State University (1943), joined the staff at Langley Aeronautical Laboratory in 1946 and soon became head of the performance aerodynamics branch of the pilotless aircraft research division. There, he conducted research on the heat shield of the Mercury spacecraft. In 1958 he joined the space task group in NASA, forerunner of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center that became the Johnson Space Center, and he became its assistant director for engineering and development in 1962 and later its director. He contributed many of the original design concepts for Project Mercury's manned spacecraft and played a major role in designing virtually every U.S. crewed spacecraft since that time, including the Space Shuttle. He retired from NASA in 1981 and became an executive for Eagle Engineering, Inc. In 1982 he was one of the founders of Space Industries, Inc. and became its president and chief executive officer.
Date UNKNOWN
NASA Center Johnson Space Center
President Reagan at Mission …
Title President Reagan at Mission Control, Houston
Full Description President Ronald Reagan gets a laugh from NASA officials in Mission Control when he jokingly asks crew members, astronauts Joe Engle and Richard Truly if they could stop by Washington en route to their California landing site in order that he might come along. The STS-2 crew was in their next to last day on orbit when the conversation took place. From left to right standing: Terry J. Hart, NASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Hans Mark, NASA Administrator James M. Beggs, JSC Director Dr. Christopher C. Kraft Jr. From left to right seated: CAPCOM, Astronaut Daniel C. Brandenstein President, Ronald Reagan Directly above the President in the background: JSC Flight Operations Director, Eugene F. Kranz
Date 11/13/1981
NASA Center Headquarters
President Reagan Presents Me …
Title President Reagan Presents Medals
Full Description President Ronald Reagan presents astronaut John Young with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor as well as NASA's Distinguished Service Medal. Astronaut Robert C. Crippen also received the Distinguished Service Medal and Dr. Alan Lovelace was presented with the President's Citizens Medal. From left to right: President Ronald Reagan Astronaut, John Young Astronaut, Robert Crippen Dr. Alan Lovelace Vice President George Bush
Date 05/01/1981
NASA Center Headquarters
Columbia Commander John Youn …
Title Columbia Commander John Young
Full Description John W. Young, STS-1 mission Commander, prepares to log flight-pertinent data in a loose-leaf flight activities notebook onboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Young is seated in the commander's station on the port side of Columbia's forward flight deck.
Date 04/14/1981
NASA Center Johnson Space Center
Columbia Liftoff
Title Columbia Liftoff
Full Description Space Shuttle Columbia liftoff from Complex 39A during the first launche of the space shuttle.
Date 4/12/1981
NASA Center Kennedy Space Center
Columbia On Final Approach
Title Columbia On Final Approach
Full Description The underside of Columbia as it makes its final approach before landing on the Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The Shuttle was piloted by Richard Truly who would go on to become NASA's eighth Administrator.
Date 11/16/1981
NASA Center Johnson Space Center
Dr. Robert A. Frosch
Title Dr. Robert A. Frosch
Full Description NASA's fifth administrator was Dr. Robert A. Frosch. Born and raised in New York, Dr. Frosch attended Columbia University where he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in theoretical physics. After graduating Dr. Frosch went to work for Hudson Laboratories where he eventually became the director. In September 1963 Dr. Frosch moved to Washington, DC, to serve as Director of Nuclear Test Detection (Project VELA) for the Advanced Research Projects Agency. In 1966, after serving as the deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, Dr. Frosch became Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development. During the 1970's Dr. Frosch served as the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations. As NASA Administrator during the Carter Administration (1977- 1981), Dr. Frosch oversaw the continuation of Space Shuttle development. He retired from NASA in 1981 to serve as Vice President for Research at the General Motors Research Laboratories.
Date UNKNOWN
NASA Center Headquarters
Shuttle Enterprise Free Flig …
Title Shuttle Enterprise Free Flight
Full Description The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise flies free after being released from NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) over Rogers Dry Lakebed during the second of five free flights carried out at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, as part of the Shuttle program's Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). The tests were conducted to verify orbiter aerodynamics and handling characteristics in preparation for orbital flights with the Space Shuttle Columbia beginning in April 1981. A tail cone over the main engine area of Enterprise smoothed out turbulent air flow during flight. It was removed on the two last free flights to accurately check approach and landing characteristics. A series of test flights during which Enterprise was taken aloft atop the SCA, but was not released, preceded the free flight tests. The Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle and the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) handled during low-speed flight and landing. The Enterprise, a prototype of the Space Shuttles, and the SCA were flown to conduct the approach and landing tests at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from February to October 1977. The first flight of the program consisted of the Space Shuttle Enterprise attached to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. These flights were to determine how well the two vehicles flew together. Five "captive-inactive" flights were flown during this first phase in which there was no crew in the Enterprise. The next series of captive flights was flown with a flight crew of two on board the prototype Space Shuttle. Only three such flights proved necessary. This led to the free-flight test series. The free-flight phase of the ALT program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle handled in low-speed flight and landing attitudes. For these landings, the Enterprise was flown by a crew of two after it was released from the top of the SCA. The vehicle was released at altitudes ranging from 19,000 to 26,000 feet. The Enterprise had no propulsion system, but its first four glides to the Rogers Dry Lake runway provided realistic, in-flight simulations of how subsequent Space Shuttles would be flown at the end of an orbital mission. The fifth approach and landing test, with the Enterprise landing on the Edwards Air Force Base concrete runway, revealed a problem with the Space Shuttle flight control system that made it susceptible to Pilot-Induced Oscillation (PIO), a potentially dangerous control problem during a landing. Further research using other NASA aircraft, especially the F-8 Digital-Fly-By-Wire aircraft, led to correction of the PIO problem before the first orbital flight. The Enterprise's last free-flight was October 26, 1977, after which it was ferried to other NASA centers for ground-based flight simulations that tested Space Shuttle systems and structure.
Date 01/01/1977
NASA Center Dryden Flight Research Center
Shuttle Main Engine Test Fir …
Title Shuttle Main Engine Test Firing
Full Description A remote camera captures a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi.
Date 01/01/1981
NASA Center Stennis Space Center
Space Shuttle Main Engine (S …
Title Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Test Firing
Full Description A Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) undergoing a full power level 290.04 second test firing at the National Space Technology Laboratories (currently called the Stennis Space Center) in Mississippi. The firings were part of a series of developmental testing designed to increase the amount of thrust available to the Shuttle from its three main engines. The additional thrust allowed the Shuttle to launch heavier payloads into orbit. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) had management responsibility of Space Shuttle propulsion elements, including the Main Engines.
Date 5/21/1981
NASA Center Marshall Space Flight Center
Female Astronauts
Title Female Astronauts
Full Description Astronauts Dr. N. Jan Davis (left) and Dr. Mae C. Jemison (right) were mission specialists on board the STS-47 mission. Born on November 1, 1953 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Dr. N. Jan Davis received a Master degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1983 followed by a Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1985. In 1979 she joined NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as an aerospace engineer. A veteran of three space flights, Dr. Davis has logged over 678 hours in space since becoming an astronaut in 1987. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-47 in 1992 and STS-60 in 1994, and was the payload commander on STS-85 in 1997. In July 1999, she transferred to the Marshall Space Flight Center, where she became Director of Flight Projects. Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, was born on October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama but considers Chicago, Illinois her hometown. She received a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering (and completed the requirements for a Bachelor degree in African and Afro-American studies) at Stanford University in 1977, and a Doctorate degree in medicine from Cornell University in 1981. After receiving her doctorate, she worked as a General Practitioner while attending graduate engineering classes in Los Angeles. She was named an astronaut candidate in 1987, and flew her first flight as a science mission specialists on STS-47, Spacelab-J, in September 1992, logging 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space. In March 1993, Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA, thought she still resides in Houston, Texas. She went on to publish her memoirs, Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life, in 2001. The astronauts are shown preparing to deploy the lower body negative pressure (LBNP) apparatus in this 35mm frame taken in the science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Endeavor. Fellow astronauts Robert L. Gibson (Commander), Curtis L. Brown (Junior Pilot), Mark C. Lee (Payload Commander), Jay Apt (Mission Specialist), and Mamoru Mohri (Payload Specialist) joined the two on their maiden space flight. The Spacelab-J mission was a joint effort between Japan and the United States.
Date 09/15/1992
NASA Center Johnson Space Center
STS-1 Launch
Title STS-1 Launch
Full Description The April 12 launch at Pad 39A of STS-1, just seconds past 7 a.m., carries astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen into an Earth orbital mission scheduled to last for 54 hours, ending with unpowered landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Date 4/12/1981
NASA Center Kennedy Space Center
STS-1 Launch
Title STS-1 Launch
Full Description The Space Shuttle rises majestically above Launch Complex 39's Pad A on the first leg of its maiden journey into space. On board for the historic flight are astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen, scheduled to spend nearly 54 hours in space on this first shakedown test of Americas's new reusable Space Transportation System (STS). The Sunday morning liftoff came a few seconds after 7:00 a.m.
Date 4/12/1981
NASA Center Kennedy Space Center
STS-1 Pre-Launch
Title STS-1 Pre-Launch
Full Description A timed exposure of the Space Shuttle, STS-1, at Launch Pad A, Complex 39, turns the space vehicle and support facilities into a night- time fantasy of light. Structures to the left of the Shuttle are the fixed and the rotating service structure.
Date 3/5/1981
NASA Center Kennedy Space Center
STS-72 Landing
Title STS-72 Landing
Full Description The Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour and its crew of six glide in to Runway 15 at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility after spending nine days in space on the STS-72 mission, the first Shuttle flight of 1996. It is the eighth night landing of the Shuttle since the program began in 1981, but only the third night landing at KSC. Highlights of the mission were the retrieval of the Japanese Space Flyer Unit (SFU), the deployment and retrieval of NASA's Office of Aeronauts and Space Techology-Flyer (OAST-Flyer), and two Extravehicular Activities (EVA's) or spacewalks.
Date 1/20/1996
NASA Center Kennedy Space Center
STS-84 Landing
Title STS-84 Landing
Full Description Framed by the Vehicle Assembly Building in the distance, at left, and the Mate- Demate Device, the Space Shuttle Atlantis with its drag chute deployed touches down on KSC's Runway 33 at the conclusion of STS-84 mission. The Shuttle Training Aircraft piloted by Astronaut Kenneth D. Cockrell, acting deputy chief of the Astronaut Office, is flying in front of Atlantis. Main gear touchdown was at 9:27:44 a.m. EDT on May 24, 1997. The first landing opportunity was waved off because of low cloud cover. It was the 37th landing at KSC since the Shuttle program began in 1981, and the eighth consecutive landing at KSC. STS-84 was the sixth of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. Atlantis was docked with the Mir for five days. STS-84 Mission Specialist C. Michael Foale replaced astronaut and Mir 23 crew member Jerry M. Linenger, who has been on the Russian Space Station since January 15. Linenger returned to Earth on Atlantis with the rest of the STS-84 crew, Mission Commander Charles J. Precourt, Pilot Eileen Marie Collins, and Mission Specialists Carlos I. Noriega, Edward Tsang Lu, Elena V. Kondakova of the Russian Space Agency and Jean-Francois Clervoy of the European Space Agency. Foale is scheduled to remain on the Mir for approximately four months, until he is replaced by STS-86 crew member Wendy B. Lawrence in September. Besides the docking and crew exchange, STS-84 included the transfer of more than 7,300 pounds of water, logistics and science experiments and hardware to and from the Mir. Scientific experiments conducted during the STS-84 mission, and scheduled for Foale's stay on the Mir, are in the fields of advanced technology, Earth Sciences, fundamental biology, human life sciences, International Space Station risk mitigation, microgravity sciences and space sciences.
Date 5/24/1997
NASA Center Kennedy Space Center
Throttling Upward
Title Throttling Upward
Full Description Aerial views of the STS-2 launch from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. This photograph of Columbia soaring toward earth orbit was captured by Mission- Specialist/Astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan from the rear station of a T-38 jet aircraft. Part of the wing top of her aircraft can be seen in the lower left corner. Another T-38 jet can be seen at lower left corner near the smoke trails from the Shuttle.
Date 11/12/1981
NASA Center Johnson Space Center
AC81-0365-1
Space Shuttle Columbia Launc …
6/4/81
Description Space Shuttle Columbia Launch at NASA KSC (Kennedy Space Center) Ref: 108-KSC-81PC-382
Date 6/4/81
AC81-0365-2
Space Shuttle Columbia Launc …
6/4/81
Description Space Shuttle Columbia Launch Preparation at NASA KSC (Kennedy Space Center) Ref: 108-KSC-81PC-98
Date 6/4/81
AC81-0365-3
Space Shuttle Columbia Launc …
6/4/81
Description Space Shuttle Columbia Launch Preparation at NASA KSC (Kennedy Space Center) Ref: 108-KSC-81PC-454
Date 6/4/81
AC81-0365-4
Space Shuttle Columbia Launc …
6/4/81
Description Space Shuttle Columbia Launch at NASA KSC (Kennedy Space Center) Ref: 108-KSC-81PC-368
Date 6/4/81
AC81-0365-5
Space Shuttle Columbia Launc …
6/4/81
Description Space Shuttle Columbia Launch Preparation at NASA KSC (Kennedy Space Center) Ref: 108-KSC-81PC-455
Date 6/4/81
M2-F3 with test pilot John A …
Photo Description NASA research pilot John A. Manke is seen here in front of the M2-F3 Lifting Body. Manke was hired by NASA on May 25, 1962, as a flight research engineer. He was later assigned to the pilot's office and flew various support aircraft including the F-104, F5D, F-111 and C-47. After leaving the Marine Corps in 1960, Manke worked for Honeywell Corporation as a test engineer for two years before coming to NASA. He was project pilot on the X-24B and also flew the HL-10, M2-F3, and X-24A lifting bodies. John made the first supersonic flight of a lifting body and the first landing of a lifting body on a hard surface runway. Manke served as Director of the Flight Operations and Support Directorate at the Dryden Flight Research Center prior to its integration with Ames Research Center in October 1981. After this date John was named to head the joint Ames-Dryden Directorate of Flight Operations. He also served as site manager of the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility. John is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on April 27, 1984.
Project Description A fleet of lifting bodies flown at the NASA Flight Research Center (FRC--later the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from 1963 to 1975 demonstrated the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an aircraft at a pre-determined site. Aerodynamic lift--essential to flight in the atmosphere--was obtained from the shape of their bodies. The addition of fins and control surfaces allowed the pilots to stabilize and control the vehicles and regulate their flight paths. The information the lifting body program generated contributed to the data base that led to development of today's space shuttle program. The success of the FRC's M2-F1 [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/M2-F1/index.html ] program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation. The "M" refers to "manned" and "F" refers to "flight" version. "HL" comes from "horizontal landing" and 10 is for the tenth lifting body model to be investigated by Langley. The first flight of the M2-F2--which looked much like the "F1"--was on July 12, 1966. Milt Thompson was the pilot. By then, the same B-52s used to air launch the famed X-15 rocket research aircraft were modified to also carry the lifting bodies. Thompson was dropped from the B-52's wing pylon mount at an altitude of 45,000 feet on that maiden glide flight. The M2-F2 weighed 4,620 pounds, was 22 feet long, and had a width of about 10 feet. On May 10, 1967, during the sixteenth glide flight leading up to powered flight, a landing accident severely damaged the vehicle and seriously injured the NASA pilot, Bruce Peterson. NASA pilots and researchers realized the M2-F2 had lateral control problems, even though it had a stability augmentation (control) system. When the M2-F2 was rebuilt by the Northrop Corporation with the help and cooperation of the FRC and redesignated the M2-F3 [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/M2-F3/index.html ], it was modified with an additional third vertical fin--centered between the tip fins--to improve control characteristics. The M2-F2/F3 was the first of the heavy-weight, entry-configuration (i.e., configured for re-entry to the atmosphere from space) lifting bodies. Its successful development as a research test vehicle answered many of the generic questions about these vehicles. NASA donated the M2-F3 vehicle to the Smithsonian Institute in December 1973. It is currently hanging in the Air and Space Museum along with the X-15 aircraft number 1, which was its hangar partner at Dryden from 1965 to 1969.
Photo Date December 20, 1972
Shuttle Endeavour Mated to 7 …
Photo Description NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft No. 911, with the space shuttle orbiter Endeavour securely mounted atop its fuselage, taxies to the runway to begin the ferry flight from Rockwell's Plant 42 at Palmdale, California, where the orbiter was built, to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. At Kennedy, the space vehicle was processed and launched on orbital mission STS-49, which landed at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (later redesignated Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, 16 May 1992. NASA 911, the second modified 747 that went into service in November 1990, has special support struts atop the fuselage and internal strengthening to accommodate the added weight of the orbiters.
Project Description 470,000 pounds. The engines burn a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. In orbit, the Space Shuttles circle the earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour with each orbit taking about 90 minutes. A Space Shuttle crew sees a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. When Space Shuttle flights began in April 1981, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, was the primary landing site for the Shuttles. Now Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is the primary landing site with Dryden remaining as the principal alternate landing site., Space Shuttles are the main element of America?s Space Transportation System and are used for space research and other space applications. The shuttles are the first vehicles capable of being launched into space and returning to Earth on a routine basis. Space Shuttles are used as orbiting laboratories in which scientists and mission specialists conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments. Crews aboard shuttles place satellites in orbit, rendezvous with satellites to carry out repair missions and return them to space, and retrieve satellites and return them to Earth for refurbishment and reuse. Space Shuttles are true aerospace vehicles. They leave Earth and its atmosphere under rocket power provided by three liquid-propellant main engines with two solid-propellant boosters attached plus an external liquid-fuel tank. After their orbital missions, they streak back through the atmosphere and land like airplanes. The returning shuttles, however, land like gliders, without power and on runways. Other rockets can place heavy payloads into orbit, but, they can only be used once. Space Shuttles are designed to be continually reused. When Space Shuttles are used to transport complete scientific laboratories into space, the laboratories remain inside the payload bay throughout the mission. They are then removed after the Space Shuttle returns to Earth and can be reused on future flights. Some of these orbital laboratories, like the Spacelab, provide facilities for several specialists to conduct experiments in such fields as medicine, astronomy, and materials manufacturing. Some types of satellites deployed by Space Shuttles include those involved in environmental and resources protection, astronomy, weather forecasting, navigation, oceanographic studies, and other scientific fields. The Space Shuttles can also launch spacecraft into orbits higher than the Shuttle?s altitude limit through the use of Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) propulsion units. After release from the Space Shuttle payload bay, the IUS is ignited to carry the spacecraft into deep space. The Space Shuttles are also being used to carry elements of the International Space Station into space where they are assembled in orbit. The Space Shuttles were built by Rockwell International?s Space Transportation Systems Division, Downey, California. Rockwell?s Rocketdyne Division (now part of Boeing) builds the three main engines, and Thiokol, Brigham City, Utah, makes the solid rocket booster motors. Martin Marietta Corporation (now Lockheed Martin), New Orleans, Louisiana, makes the external tanks. Each orbiter (Space Shuttle) is 121 feet long, has a wingspan of 78 feet, and a height of 57 feet. The Space Shuttle is approximately the size of a DC-9 commercial airliner and can carry a payload of 65,000 pounds into orbit. The payload bay is 60 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. Each main engine is capable of producing a sea level thrust of 375,000 pounds and a vacuum (orbital) thrust of
Photo Date 1991
Shuttle Discovery Landing at …
Photo Description NASA Dryden Flight Research Center pilot Tom McMurtry lands NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with Space Shuttle Discovery attached at Rockwell Aerospace's Palmdale, California, facility about 1:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). There for nine months of scheduled maintenance, Discovery and the 747 were completing a two-day flight from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, that began at 7:04 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on 27 September and included an overnight stop at Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah. At the conclusion of this mission, Discovery had flown 21 shuttle missions, totaling more than 142 days in orbit.
Project Description 470,000 pounds. The engines burn a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. In orbit, the Space Shuttles circle the earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour with each orbit taking about 90 minutes. A Space Shuttle crew sees a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. When Space Shuttle flights began in April 1981, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, was the primary landing site for the Shuttles. Now Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is the primary landing site with Dryden remaining as the principal alternate landing site., Space Shuttles are the main element of America?s Space Transportation System and are used for space research and other space applications. The shuttles are the first vehicles capable of being launched into space and returning to Earth on a routine basis. Space Shuttles are used as orbiting laboratories in which scientists and mission specialists conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments. Crews aboard shuttles place satellites in orbit, rendezvous with satellites to carry out repair missions and return them to space, and retrieve satellites and return them to Earth for refurbishment and reuse. Space Shuttles are true aerospace vehicles. They leave Earth and its atmosphere under rocket power provided by three liquid-propellant main engines with two solid-propellant boosters attached plus an external liquid-fuel tank. After their orbital missions, they streak back through the atmosphere and land like airplanes. The returning shuttles, however, land like gliders, without power and on runways. Other rockets can place heavy payloads into orbit, but, they can only be used once. Space Shuttles are designed to be continually reused. When Space Shuttles are used to transport complete scientific laboratories into space, the laboratories remain inside the payload bay throughout the mission. They are then removed after the Space Shuttle returns to Earth and can be reused on future flights. Some of these orbital laboratories, like the Spacelab, provide facilities for several specialists to conduct experiments in such fields as medicine, astronomy, and materials manufacturing. Some types of satellites deployed by Space Shuttles include those involved in environmental and resources protection, astronomy, weather forecasting, navigation, oceanographic studies, and other scientific fields. The Space Shuttles can also launch spacecraft into orbits higher than the Shuttle?s altitude limit through the use of Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) propulsion units. After release from the Space Shuttle payload bay, the IUS is ignited to carry the spacecraft into deep space. The Space Shuttles are also being used to carry elements of the International Space Station into space where they are assembled in orbit. The Space Shuttles were built by Rockwell International?s Space Transportation Systems Division, Downey, California. Rockwell?s Rocketdyne Division (now part of Boeing) builds the three main engines, and Thiokol, Brigham City, Utah, makes the solid rocket booster motors. Martin Marietta Corporation (now Lockheed Martin), New Orleans, Louisiana, makes the external tanks. Each orbiter (Space Shuttle) is 121 feet long, has a wingspan of 78 feet, and a height of 57 feet. The Space Shuttle is approximately the size of a DC-9 commercial airliner and can carry a payload of 65,000 pounds into orbit. The payload bay is 60 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. Each main engine is capable of producing a sea level thrust of 375,000 pounds and a vacuum (orbital) thrust of
Photo Date 28 September 1995
Shuttle Endeavour Mated to 7 …
Photo Description NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft No. 911, with the space shuttle orbiter Endeavour securely mounted atop its fuselage, begins the ferry flight from Rockwell's Plant 42 at Palmdale, California, where the orbiter was built, to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. At Kennedy, the space vehicle was processed and launched on orbital mission STS-49, which landed at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (later redesignated Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, 16 May 1992. NASA 911, the second modified 747 that went into service in November 1990, has special support struts atop the fuselage and internal strengthening to accommodate the added weight of the orbiters.
Project Description 470,000 pounds. The engines burn a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. In orbit, the Space Shuttles circle the earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour with each orbit taking about 90 minutes. A Space Shuttle crew sees a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. When Space Shuttle flights began in April 1981, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, was the primary landing site for the Shuttles. Now Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is the primary landing site with Dryden remaining as the principal alternate landing site., Space Shuttles are the main element of America?s Space Transportation System and are used for space research and other space applications. The shuttles are the first vehicles capable of being launched into space and returning to Earth on a routine basis. Space Shuttles are used as orbiting laboratories in which scientists and mission specialists conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments. Crews aboard shuttles place satellites in orbit, rendezvous with satellites to carry out repair missions and return them to space, and retrieve satellites and return them to Earth for refurbishment and reuse. Space Shuttles are true aerospace vehicles. They leave Earth and its atmosphere under rocket power provided by three liquid-propellant main engines with two solid-propellant boosters attached plus an external liquid-fuel tank. After their orbital missions, they streak back through the atmosphere and land like airplanes. The returning shuttles, however, land like gliders, without power and on runways. Other rockets can place heavy payloads into orbit, but, they can only be used once. Space Shuttles are designed to be continually reused. When Space Shuttles are used to transport complete scientific laboratories into space, the laboratories remain inside the payload bay throughout the mission. They are then removed after the Space Shuttle returns to Earth and can be reused on future flights. Some of these orbital laboratories, like the Spacelab, provide facilities for several specialists to conduct experiments in such fields as medicine, astronomy, and materials manufacturing. Some types of satellites deployed by Space Shuttles include those involved in environmental and resources protection, astronomy, weather forecasting, navigation, oceanographic studies, and other scientific fields. The Space Shuttles can also launch spacecraft into orbits higher than the Shuttle?s altitude limit through the use of Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) propulsion units. After release from the Space Shuttle payload bay, the IUS is ignited to carry the spacecraft into deep space. The Space Shuttles are also being used to carry elements of the International Space Station into space where they are assembled in orbit. The Space Shuttles were built by Rockwell International?s Space Transportation Systems Division, Downey, California. Rockwell?s Rocketdyne Division (now part of Boeing) builds the three main engines, and Thiokol, Brigham City, Utah, makes the solid rocket booster motors. Martin Marietta Corporation (now Lockheed Martin), New Orleans, Louisiana, makes the external tanks. Each orbiter (Space Shuttle) is 121 feet long, has a wingspan of 78 feet, and a height of 57 feet. The Space Shuttle is approximately the size of a DC-9 commercial airliner and can carry a payload of 65,000 pounds into orbit. The payload bay is 60 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. Each main engine is capable of producing a sea level thrust of 375,000 pounds and a vacuum (orbital) thrust of
Photo Date 1991
Isaac "Ike" Gillam
Photo Date June 8, 1978
Dryden Test Pilots 1990 - Sm …
Photo Date 1990
The Space Shuttle Columbia g …
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia glides down over Rogers Dry Lake as it heads for a landing at Edwards Air Force Base at the conclusion of its first orbital mission on April 14, 1981.
Project Description unknown
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description Tire tracks left in Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB show where the Space Shuttle Columbia successfully touched down to complete it's first orbital mission on April 14, 1981.
Photo Date April, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia on Rogers Dry lakebed at Edwards AFB after landing to complete its first orbital mission on April 14, 1981. Technicians towed the Shuttle back to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for post-flight processing and preparation for a return ferry flight atop a modified 747 to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia on Rogers Dry lakebed at Edwards AFB after landing to complete its first orbital mission on April 14, 1981. Technicians towed the Shuttle back to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for post-flight processing and preparation for a return ferry flight atop a modified 747 to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia can be seen in the post-flight processing facility known as the MDD (Mate-Demate Device) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, CA, in this aerial view taken shortly after completing its first orbital mission with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base.
Photo Date April, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia on Rogers Dry lakebed at Edwards AFB after landing to complete its first orbital mission on April 14, 1981. Technicians towed the Shuttle back to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for post-flight processing and preparation for a return ferry flight atop a modified 747 to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Actor Clint Eastwood and DFR …
Photo Description Actor Clint Eastwood and DFRC Center Director Ike Gillam pose near the Space Shuttle Columbia in the MDD (Mate-Demate Device) post-processing facility after Columbia had completed its first orbital flight with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, CA., on April 14, 1981.
Photo Date April, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia received post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), after its first landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, April 14, 1981. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASAs modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
Photo Date April, 1981
NASA's 747 with Columbia ato …
Photo Description NASA's specially modified 747 with the Space Shuttle Columbia atop takes off to ferry the Shuttle back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Columbia had recently completed its first orbital mission with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Photo Date April 28, 1981
Photo Description After completing it's first orbital mission with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base on April 14, 1981, Space Shuttle Columbia received a humorous sendoff before it's ferry flight atop a modified 747 back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Holding the sign are, left to right: Melvin Burke, DFRC Orbital Flight Test (OFT) Program Manager, Isaac 'Ike' Gillam, DFRC Center Director, Fitzhugh 'Fitz' L. Fulton Jr., NASA DFRC 747 SCA Pilot, and Donald K. 'Deke' Slayton, JSC OFT Project Manager.
Photo Date April 28, 1981
Photo Description The Antelope Valley Inn in Lancaster, CA, celebrates the Space Shuttle Columbia's first landing at nearby Edwards AFB on April 14, 1981. Columbia was built in the Lancaster area.
Photo Date April, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia touches down on lakebed runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to conclude the first orbital shuttle mission.
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description Large crowds gathered on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB to see the first landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia, completing its first orbital mission.
Project Description unknown
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description Large crowds gathered on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB to see the first landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia, completing its first orbital mission.
Photo Date April 14, 1981
The Space Shuttle Columbia t …
Photo Description TOUCHDOWN! -- The Space Shuttle Columbia touches down on lakebed runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to conclude the first orbital shuttle mission, April 14, 1981.
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Space Shuttle astronauts Joh …
Photo Description WELCOME HOME -- Space Shuttle astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen (in tan space suits) are greeted by members of the ground crew moments after stepping off the shuttle Columbia following its first landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Young and Crippen had piloted the Columbia on its first orbital space mission, April 12 - 14, 1981.
Project Description Space Shuttle astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen (in tan space suits) are greeted by members of the ground crew after stepping off the Space Shuttle Columbia after STS-1 landing at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia touches down on lakebed runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to conclude the first orbital shuttle mission. (JSC photo # S81-30734)
Project Description Space Shuttle STS-1
Photo Date April 14, 1981
Photo Description The Space Shuttle Columbia on Rogers Dry lakebed at Edwards AFB after landing to complete its first orbital mission on April 14, 1981. Technicians towed the Shuttle back to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for post-flight processing and preparation for a return ferry flight atop a modified 747 to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (JSC photo # S81-30749)
Project Description Space Shuttle STS-1
Photo Date April 14, 1981
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