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Infrared Images of HD98800
| Name |
Infrared Images of HD98800 |
|
Lunar Prospector in Clean Ro
…
| Title |
Lunar Prospector in Clean Room |
| Full Description |
The fully assembled Lunar Prospector spacecraft is shown mated atop the Star 37 Trans Lunar Injection module. Lunar Prospector represented the first NASA spacecraft to revisit the Moon in 25 years. In December of 1972 Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last humans to set foot upon the Moon and the last NASA mission to visit the lunar frontier. On January 6, 1998 at 9:28 p.m., Lunar Prospector was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a Lockheed Martin Athena II rocket. Also onboard were the ash remains of astrogeologist Eugene M. Shoemaker. A scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey, he was detailed to NASA and helped train Apollo astronauts in lunar geology. However, as co- founder of a "rogue string" of comet fragments, his name will forever be linked to the much hearlded Shoemaker-Levy 9 cometary impact of the planet Jupiter in 1995. Lunar Prospector mapped the Moon's elemental composition, gravity fields, magnetic fields and resources. Prospector provided insights into the origin and evolution of the Moon. One of the most significant finds by Lunar Prospector was confirmation that there could be as much as 10 billion tons of subsurface frozen water near the Moon's polar region. The Lunar Prospector mission came to a creative and daring conclusion when on July 31, 1999 at 2:52:00.8 a.m. PDT Mission Control Ames directed the spacecraft to a crash landing into a deep crater near the Moon's South pole. The hope was that the impact might release trapped water vapor. However no visible debris plume was detected by numerous observatories monitoring the event. This lack of direct evidence has not diminished the hope or belief that subsurface frozen water does exist. |
| Date |
01/01/1997 |
| NASA Center |
Ames Research Center |
|
Florida From Space
| Title |
Florida From Space |
| Full Description |
Taken during the STS-95 mission from a point over Cuba, this photo shows an oblique, foreshortened view of the Florida Peninsula, with the light blue, shallow seafloor of both the Florida Keys (curving across the bottom of the view) and the Bahama banks (right). "Popcorn" cumulus cloud covers Miami and the Southern Everglades, although the built-up area from Ft. Lauderdale to West Palm Beach can be discerned. Lake Okeechobee is the prominent waterbody in Florida. Cape Canaveral is shown well, half way up the peninsula. Orlando appears as the lighter patch West (left) of Cape Canaveral, near the middle of the peninsula. Cape Hatteras appears top right, with the North part of Chesapeake Bay also visible. This is a visibility of 16 degrees of latitude (23 degrees N over Cuba to 39 degrees at Baltimore), showing unusual atmospheric clarity. |
| Date |
10/31/1998 |
| NASA Center |
Johnson Space Center |
|
Florida SeaWiFS False Color
…
| Title |
Florida SeaWiFS False Color Stills |
| Completed |
1998-09-09 |
|
Southeast Coast SeaWiFS Fals
…
| Title |
Southeast Coast SeaWiFS False Color Stills: Cape Hatteras to Jacksonville |
| Completed |
1998-09-09 |
|
Zoom in to Florida: June 22,
…
| Title |
Zoom in to Florida: June 22, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-06-23 |
|
East Coast to Susquehanna an
…
| Title |
East Coast to Susquehanna and Rochester/Lake Ontario Flyover: April 12, 1998 |
| Abstract |
Close up of East Coast to the Chesapeake, up the Susquehanna to Rochester/Lake Ontario |
| Completed |
1998-09-09 |
|
Miami to New York City Flyov
…
| Title |
Miami to New York City Flyover: April 12, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-09-09 |
|
Flyover of Florida: June 17,
…
| Title |
Flyover of Florida: June 17, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-06-18 |
|
A Year Before Hurricane Floy
…
| Title |
A Year Before Hurricane Floyd: East Coast Flyover April 1998 from SeaWiFS |
| Completed |
1999-10-14 |
|
Florida SeaWiFS True Color S
…
| Title |
Florida SeaWiFS True Color Stills |
| Completed |
1998-09-09 |
|
Southeast Coast SeaWiFS True
…
| Title |
Southeast Coast SeaWiFS True Color Stills: Cape Hatteras to Jacksonville |
| Completed |
1998-09-09 |
|
Gulf Coast and East Coast Fl
…
| Title |
Gulf Coast and East Coast Flyover: April 12, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-09-09 |
|
US Tour with SeaWiFS data fr
…
| Title |
US Tour with SeaWiFS data from April 12, 1998 |
| Abstract |
Flying around the United States. Starting at the Gulf of Mexico, we move up the Mississippi River, around the Great Lakes, over to Maine, down the Eastern Seaboard, ending with Florida. Data was collected on April 12, 1998. |
| Completed |
1998-11-30 |
|
Zoom in to Florida: June 17,
…
| Title |
Zoom in to Florida: June 17, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-06-18 |
|
Second Flyover of Florida: J
…
| Title |
Second Flyover of Florida: June 22, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-06-23 |
|
Second Zoom in to Florida: J
…
| Title |
Second Zoom in to Florida: June 22, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-06-23 |
|
Third Flyover of Florida: Ju
…
| Title |
Third Flyover of Florida: June 22, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-06-23 |
|
Flyover of Florida: June 22,
…
| Title |
Flyover of Florida: June 22, 1998 |
| Completed |
1998-06-23 |
|
Richard G. Ewers
| Photo Date |
December 2, 1998 |
|
Pegasus Mated under Wing of
…
| Photo Description |
A close-up view of the Pegasus space-booster attached to the wing pylon of NASA?s B-52 launch aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The Pegasus rocket booster was designed as a way to get small payloads into space orbit more easily and cost-effectively. It has also been used to gather data on hypersonic flight. |
| Project Description |
Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Photo Date |
August 2, 1994 |
|
PHYSX Glove Test
| Photo Description |
A mock-up of the stainless-steel Pegasus Hypersonic Experiment (PHYSX) Projects experimental "glove" undergoes hot-loads tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The thermal ground test simulates heats and pressures the wing glove will experience at hypersonic speeds. Quartz heat lamps subject this model of a Pegasus booster rocket's right wing glove to the extreme heats it will experience at speeds approaching Mach 8. The glove has a highly reflective surface, underneath which are hundreds of temperature and pressure sensors that will send hypersonic flight data to ground tracking facilities during the experimental flight. |
| Project Description |
Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Photo Date |
September 13, 1995 |
|
Shuttle Atlantis Returning t
…
| Photo Description |
The Space Shuttle Atlantis rides on the back of one of NASA?s Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft en route from California to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. |
| 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 |
September 1998 |
|
Shuttle Atlantis Returning t
…
| Photo Description |
The Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis, framed by the California mountains, as it rides on the back of one of NASA?s Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) en route from California to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. |
| 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 |
September 1998 |
|
Shuttle Ferry
| Title |
Shuttle Ferry |
| Explanation |
How does a space shuttle that landed in California [ http://www.edwards.af.mil/ ] get back to Florida [ http://www.infoplease.com/states.html ] for its next launch [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021023.html ]? The answer is by ferry. NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/ ] operates two commercial Boeing 747 [ http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/background.html ] airplanes modified to carry a space shuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990411.html ] on their backs. Designated officially as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft [ http://www.theaviationzone.com/factsheets/sca.asp ] or SCA [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft ], the 747s were made for commercial flights but bolstered by NASA with several struts, stabilizers, and electronic monitors. Spanning about 70 meters in length, the two aircraft [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/STS-Ferry/Medium/index.html ]'s combined mass is nearly 150,000 kilograms. Pictured above [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/STS-Ferry/HTML/EC98-44740-2.html ], the space shuttle Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ] is shown being ferried [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/STS-Ferry/ ] back to NASA Kennedy Space Center [ http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html ] in Florida in September 1998. |
|
Shuttle Ferry
| Title |
Shuttle Ferry |
| Explanation |
How [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/MCC/sts-102/03_09_10_00_72.html ] does a space shuttle that landed in California [ http://www.edwards.af.mil/ ] get back to Florida [ http://www.infoplease.com/states.html ] for its next launch [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021023.html ]? The answer is by ferry. NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/ ] operates two commercial Boeing 747 [ http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/background.html ] airplanes modified to carry a space shuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990411.html ] on their backs. Designated officially as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft [ http://www.theaviationzone.com/factsheets/sca.asp ] or SCA [ http://www.awesome80s.com/Awesome80s/Science/Space/Shuttle/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft.asp ], the 747s were made for commercial flights but bolstered by NASA with several struts, stabilizers, and electronic monitors. Spanning about 70 meters in length, the two aircraft [ http://trc.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/STS-Ferry/Large/index.html ]'s combined mass is nearly 150,000 kilograms. Pictured above [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/STS-Ferry/HTML/EC98-44740-2.html ], the space shuttle Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ] is shown being ferried [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/STS-Ferry/ ] back to NASA Kennedy Space Center [ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/visit/planvisit.htm ] in Florida in September 1998. |
|
Close-up of Pegasus Rocket W
…
| Title |
Close-up of Pegasus Rocket Wing and PHYSX Glove Experiment |
| Description |
This close-up view of the stainless-steel Pegasus Hypersonic Experiment (PHYSX) Projects experimental "glove" shows a highly reflective surface, underneath which are hundreds of temperature and pressure sensors that will send hypersonic flight data to ground tracking facilities during the experiment's flight. The glove and the Pegasus rocket wing it is attached to were load-tested at Scaled Composites, Inc., in Mojave, California, in January 1997. The Pegasus wing with attached PHYSX glove was placed in a wooden triangular test-rig, mounted to the floor atop the waterbags. Technicians slowly filled water bags beneath the wing, applying the pressure, or "wing-loading," required to determine whether the wing could withstand its design limit for stress. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus, airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
01.01.1997 |
|
Pegasus Engine Ignites after
…
| Title |
Pegasus Engine Ignites after Drop from B-52 Mothership |
| Description |
Against the midnight blue of a high-altitude sky, Orbital Sciences' Pegasus winged rocket booster ignites after being dropped from NASA's B-52 mothership on a July 1991 flight. A NASA chase plane for the flight is also visible above the rocket and below the B-52. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never, launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
07.17.1991 |
|
Pegasus Mated under Wing of
…
| Title |
Pegasus Mated under Wing of B-52 Mothership - Close-up |
| Description |
A close-up view of the Pegasus space-booster attached to the wing pylon of NASA's B-52 launch aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The Pegasus rocket booster was designed as a way to get small payloads into space orbit more easily and cost-effectively. It has also been used to gather data on hypersonic flight. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There, is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
01.01.1994 |
|
Pegasus Rocket Model
| Title |
Pegasus Rocket Model |
| Description |
A small, desk-top model of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Pegasus winged rocket booster. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
01.01.1996 |
|
Pegasus Rocket Wing and PHYS
…
| Title |
Pegasus Rocket Wing and PHYSX Glove Being Prepared for Stress Loads Testing |
| Description |
A technician adjusts the Pegasus Hypersonic Experiment (PHYSX) Project's Pegasus rocket wing with attached PHYSX glove before a loads-test at Scaled Composites, Inc., in Mojave, California, in January 1997. For the test, technicians slowly filled water bags beneath the wing to create the pressure, or "wing-loading," required to determine whether the wing could withstand its design limit for stress. The wing sits in a wooden triangular frame which serves as the test-rig, mounted to the floor atop the waterbags. PHYSX was launched aboard a Pegasus rocket on October 22, 1998. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound, payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
01.01.1997 |
|
Pegasus Rocket Wing and PHYS
…
| Title |
Pegasus Rocket Wing and PHYSX Glove Undergoes Stress Loads Testing |
| Description |
The Pegasus Hypersonic Experiment (PHYSX) Project's Pegasus rocket wing with attached PHYSX glove rests after load-tests at Scaled Composites, Inc., in Mojave, California, in January 1997. Technicians slowly filled water bags beneath the wing, to create the pressure, or "wing-loading," required to determine whether the wing could withstand its design limit for stress. The wing sits in a wooden triangular frame which serves as the test-rig, mounted to the floor atop the waterbags. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is, capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
01.01.1997 |
|
PHYSX Glove Test
| Title |
PHYSX Glove Test |
| Description |
A mock-up of the stainless-steel Pegasus Hypersonic Experiment (PHYSX) Projects experimental "glove" undergoes hot-loads tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The thermal ground test simulates heats and pressures the wing glove will experience at hypersonic speeds. Quartz heat lamps subject this model of a Pegasus booster rocket's right wing glove to the extreme heats it will experience at speeds approaching Mach 8. The glove has a highly reflective surface, underneath which are hundreds of temperature and pressure sensors that will send hypersonic flight data to ground tracking facilities during the experimental flight. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft, launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
01.01.1995 |
|
Richard G. Ewers
| Title |
Richard G. Ewers |
| Description |
Richard G. (Dick) Ewers became a pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in May 1998. His flying duties focus on operation of the Airborne Science DC-8 and Systems Research F/A-18 aircraft, but he also maintains qualifications in the King Air and T-34C. He has more than 32 years and nearly 9,000 hours of military and civilian flight experience in all types of aircraft from jet fighters to blimps. Ewers came to NASA Dryden from a position as an engineering test pilot with Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Division (formerly Westinghouse's Electronic Systems Group). He spent eight and a half years with Westinghouse flight testing radar and forward looking infrared systems under development for military and civilian use. Before going to work for Westinghouse, Ewers served for more than 21 years as a U.S. Marine Corps fighter and test pilot, flying F-4, A-4, and F/A-18 aircraft. He underwent flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., in 1969-70. He was subsequently assigned to both fighter/attack and reconnaissance squadrons before ultimately commanding an F-4S squadron for two years. Additionally, his flying included combat service in Vietnam and operational exchange tours with both U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force squadrons flying F-4s around the world, including off aircraft carriers. Ewers graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1981 and subsequently served two tours as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md. Most of his flight test experience was with the F/A-18 Hornet. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1989 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Ewers graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1968 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering mechanics. He earned a master of science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1970. |
| Date |
12.02.1998 |
|
Shuttle Atlantis Returning t
…
| Title |
Shuttle Atlantis Returning to Kennedy Space Center after 10 Month Refurbishment |
| Description |
The Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis is seen here in flight on the back of one of NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) as it departs California for the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. 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 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. |
| Date |
09.01.1998 |
|
Shuttle Atlantis Returning t
…
| Title |
Shuttle Atlantis Returning to Kennedy Space Center after 10 Month Refurbishment |
| Description |
A look-down view on the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis piggy-backed on top of one of NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) as it departs California for the Kennedy Space Center, Florida in September 1998. 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 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. |
| Date |
09.01.1998 |
|
Shuttle Atlantis Returning t
…
| Title |
Shuttle Atlantis Returning to Kennedy Space Center after 10-Month Refurbishment |
| Description |
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 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., The Space Shuttle Atlantis rides on the back of one of NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft en route from California to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. 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 |
| Date |
09.01.1998 |
|
Shuttle Atlantis Returning t
…
| Title |
Shuttle Atlantis Returning to Kennedy Space Center after 10-Month Refurbishment |
| Description |
The Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis, framed by the California mountains, as it rides on the back of one of NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) en route from California to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. 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 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. |
| Date |
09.01.1998 |
|
Ganymede's Trailing Hemisphe
…
PIA01666
Jupiter
Solid-State Imaging
| Title |
Ganymede's Trailing Hemisphere |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
In this global view of Ganymede's trailing side, the colors are enhanced to emphasize color differences. The enhancement reveals frosty polar caps in addition to the two predominant terrains on Ganymede, bright, grooved terrain and older, dark furrowed areas. Many craters with diameters up to several dozen kilometers are visible. The violet hues at the poles may be the result of small particles of frost which would scatter more light at shorter wavelengths (the violet end of the spectrum). Ganymede's magnetic field, which was detected by the magnetometer on NASA's Galileo spacecraft in 1996, may be partly responsible for the appearance of the polar terrain. Compared to Earth's polar caps, Ganymede's polar terrain is relatively vast. The frost on Ganymede reaches latitudes as low as 40 degrees on average and 25 degrees at some locations. For comparison with Earth, Miami, Florida lies at 26 degrees north latitude, and Berlin, Germany is located at 52 degrees north. North is to the top of the picture. The composite, which combines images taken with green, violet, and 1 micrometer filters, is centered at 306 degrees west longitude. The resolution is 9 kilometers (6 miles) per picture element. The images were taken on 29 March 1998 at a range of 918000 kilometers (570,000 miles) by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URLhttp://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov ]. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URLhttp://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo ] |
|
Composite View of Asteroid B
…
PIA01344
Sol (our sun)
Miniature Integrated Camera
…
| Title |
Composite View of Asteroid Braille from Deep Space 1 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The two images on the left hand side of this composite image frame were taken 914 seconds and 932 seconds after the recent Deep Space 1 (DS1)encounter with the asteroid 9969 Braille by the Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer (MICAS). The image on the right was created by combining the two images on the left. The Sun is illuminating Braille from below , as is indicated by the arrow. Braille (also known as 1992 KD) was discovered on May 27, 1992 by astronomers Eleanor Helin and Kenneth Lawrence using the 46 centimeter (18 inch) Shmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory, while scanning the skies as part of the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey. Deep Space 1 was launched into orbit around the Sun on October 24, 1998 at 5:08 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida on a Delta 7326, a variant of the Delta II rocket. An ion engine, operating for more than 1800 hours, was used to maneuver the spacecraft for an encounter with Braille. The closest approach of DS1 to the asteroid, at an approximate distance of 15 kilometers, occurred on July 29,1999 at 04:45 Universal Time, July 28 at 9:46 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. |
|
Enhanced Image of Asteroid B
…
PIA01345
Sol (our sun)
Miniature Integrated Camera
…
| Title |
Enhanced Image of Asteroid Braille from Deep Space 1 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image was created from a composite of two images which were taken 914 seconds and 932 seconds after the recent Deep Space 1 (DS1) encounter with the asteroid 9969 Braille by the Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer (MICAS). Interpolated values were then computed for each pixel in the final image based on the neighboring pixels of the composite. The interpolation minimizes the spatial frequency artifacts of the final image. The Sun is illuminating Braille from below. Braille (also known as 1992 KD) was discovered on May 27, 1992 by astronomers Eleanor Helin and Kenneth Lawrence using the 46 centimeter (18 inch) Shmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory, while scanning the skies as part of the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey. Deep Space 1 was launched into orbit around the Sun on October 24, 1998 at 5:08 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida on a Delta 7326, a variant of the Delta II rocket. An ion engine, operating for more than 1800 hours, was used to maneuver the spacecraft for an encounter with Braille. The closest approach of DS1 to the asteroid, at an approximate distance of 15 kilometers, occurred on July 29,1999 at 04:45 Universal Time, July 28 at 9:46 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. |
|
| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
|
| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
|
| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
|
| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
|
| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
|
| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
|
| General Description |
STS-90 Shuttle Mission Imagery |
|
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -
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| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the late Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, commander of the ill-fated 1986 Challenger mission, is inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. He is represented by his widow, June Scobee (left), who is accompanied by former NASA astronaut James A. Lovell Jr. and NASA astronaut Barbara R. Morgan. Morgan assumed the duties of Teacher in Space designee following the death of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher on the Challenger mission, and was selected by NASA in January 1998 as the first Educator Astronaut. Also chosen for induction in 2004 are Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, Richard O. Covey, commander of the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, Frederick D. Gregory, the first African-American to command a space mission, and Norman E. Thagard, the first American to occupy Russia's Mir space station. The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame opened in 1990 to provide a place where space travelers could be remembered for their participation and accomplishments in the U.S. space program. To be eligible for induction, an individual must have been a U.S. citizen, a NASA astronaut, and out of the active astronaut corps at least five years. The five inductees join 52 previously honored astronauts from the ranks of the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, and Space Shuttle programs. |
| Release Date |
05/01/2004 |
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