|
|
From Cloudy to Clear
| Description |
During a recent flyby of Titan, the Cassini spacecraft looked beyond the utterly overcast moon and spied clear, distant Rhea in the blackness. |
| Full Description |
During a recent flyby of Titan, the Cassini spacecraft looked beyond the utterly overcast moon and spied clear, distant Rhea in the blackness. Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is two-and-a-half times smaller than Earth and much less massive. This circumstance causes its atmosphere to extend to much higher altitudes above the surface than does Earth's. The Cassini spacecraft is unable to fly much closer than about 1000 kilometers (600 miles) above Titan's surface -- much closer, and the spacecraft would experience excessive torques from the atmosphere that could interfere with its ability to track the target. By contrast, the International Space Station orbits Earth at an altitude of about 350 kilometers (220 miles). The bright, fresh crater on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) appears near the center of the moon's crescent. The image was taken in visible-light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 20, 2006, at a distance of approximately 53,000 kilometers (33,000 miles) from Titan and 873,000 kilometers (543,000 miles) from Rhea. Image scale is 320 meters (1,050 feet) per pixel on Titan and 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel on Rhea. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
June 21, 2006 |
|
Endeavour on Shuttle Carrier
…
| Title |
Endeavour on Shuttle Carrier Aircraft |
| Full Description |
The Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour passes over KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility atop NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle carrier Aircraft (SCA) as it returns March 27, 1997 from Palmdale, California, after an eight-month Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP). Nearly 100 modifications were made to Endeavour during that time period, including some that were directly associated with work required to support International Space Station (ISS) operations. The most extensive of the modifications was the installation of an external airlock to allow the orbiter to dock with the Station. Other modifications included upgrades to Endeavour's power supply system, general purpose computers and thermal protection system, along with the installation of new light-weight commander and pilot seats and other weight-saving modifications. |
| Date |
3/27/1997 |
| NASA Center |
Kennedy Space Center |
|
The X-38 prototype of the Cr
…
| Photo Date |
December 13, 2001 |
|
The X-38 Vehicle 131R drops
…
| Photo Date |
December 13, 2001 |
|
| Photo Description |
Assistant crew chief David Wyckoff checks out operation of the Super Guppy's new landing gear from the flight deck after changeout is complete. |
| Project Description |
The various Guppies were modified from 1940's and 50's-vintage Boeing Model 377 and C-97 Stratocruiser airframes by Aero Spacelines, Inc., which operated the aircraft for NASA. NASA's Flight Research Center assisted in certification testing of the first Super Guppy in 1962. One of the turboprop-powered Super Guppies, built up from a YC-97J airframe, last appeared at Dryden in May, 1976 when it was used to transport the HL-10 and X-24B lifting bodies from Dryden to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. NASA's present Super Guppy Turbine, the fourth and last example of the final version, first flew in its outsized form in 1980. It and its three sister ships were built in the 1970s for Europe's Airbus Industrie to ferry outsized structures for Airbus jetliners to the final assembly plant in Toulouse, France. It later was acquired by the European Space Agency, and then acquired by NASA in late 1997 for transport of large structures for the International Space Station to the launch site. It replaced the earlier-model Super Guppy, which has been retired and is used for spare parts. NASA's Super Guppy Turbine carries NASA registration number N941NA, and is based at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center. |
| Photo Date |
April 28, 2005 |
|
Shuttle Enterprise Mated to
…
| Photo Description |
The Space Shuttle Enterprise atop the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft as it leaves NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The Enterprise, first orbiter built, was not spaceflight rated and was used in 1977 to verify the landing, approach, and glide characteristics of the orbiters. It was also used for engineering fit-checks at the shuttle launch facilities. Following approach and landing tests in 1977 and its use as an engineering vehicle, Enterprise was donated to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. |
| 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 |
1983 |
|
Shuttle Enterprise Being Wor
…
| Photo Description |
The Space Shuttle Enterprise being worked on in the weight & balance hangar. The Enterprise, the first orbiter built, was not spaceflight rated and was used in 1977 to verify the landing, approach, and glide characteristics of the orbiters in the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Edwards Air Force Base, California. It was also used for engineering fit-checks at the shuttle launch facilities. Following approach and landing tests in 1977 and its use as an engineering vehicle, Enterprise was donated to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. |
| 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 |
1983 |
|
Shuttle Enterprise Mated to
…
| Photo Description |
The Space Shuttle Enterprise, the nation's prototype space shuttle orbiter, before departing NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, at 11:00 a.m., 16 May 1983, on the first leg of its trek to the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France. Seen here atop the huge 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), the first stop for the Enterprise was Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Piloting the 747 on the Europe trip were Joe Algranti, Johnson Space Center Chief Pilot, Astronaut Dick Scobee, and NASA Dryden Chief Pilot Tom McMurtry. Flight engineers for that portion of the flight were Dryden's Ray Young and Johnson Space Center's Skip Guidry. The Enterprise, named after the spacecraft of Star Trek fame, was originally carried and launched by the 747 during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Dryden Flight Research Center. |
| 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 |
1982 |
|
Shuttle Enterprise Mated to
…
| Photo Description |
The Space Shuttle Enterprise, the nation's prototype space shuttle orbiter, departed NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, at 11:00 a.m., 16 May 1983, on the first leg of its trek to the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France. Carried by the huge 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), the first stop for the Enterprise was Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Piloting the 747 on the Europe trip were Joe Algranti, Johnson Space Center Chief Pilot, Astronaut Dick Scobee, and NASA Dryden Chief Pilot Tom McMurtry. Flight engineers for that portion of the flight were Dryden's Ray Young and Johnson Space Center's Skip Guidry. The Enterprise, named after the spacecraft of Star Trek fame, was originally carried and launched by the 747 during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Dryden Flight Research Center. |
| 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 |
1983 |
|
STS-104 Astronaut Gernhardt
…
| Name of Image |
STS-104 Astronaut Gernhardt Performs EVA |
| Date of Image |
2001-07-01 |
| Full Description |
Astronaut Michael L. Gernhardt, STS-104 mission specialist, participates in one of three STS-104 space walks while holding on to the end effector of the Canadarm on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Gernhardt was joined on the extravehicular activity (EVA) by astronaut James F. Reilly (out of frame). The major objective of the mission was to install and activate the Joint Airlock, which completed the second phase of construction on the International Space Station (ISS). The airlock accommodates both United States and Russian space suits and was designed and built at the Marshall Space Flight Center by the Boeing Company. |
|
STS-116 Launch
| Name of Image |
STS-116 Launch |
| Date of Image |
2006-12-09 |
| Full Description |
Against a black night sky, the Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew head toward Earth-orbit and a scheduled linkup with the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B occurred at 8:47 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 9, 2006 in what was the first evening shuttle launch since 2002. The primary mission objective was to deliver and install the P5 truss element. The P5 installation was conducted during the first of three space walks, and involved use of both the shuttle and station?s robotic arms. The remainder of the mission included a major reconfiguration and activation of the ISS electrical and thermal control systems, as well as delivery of Zvezda Service Module debris panels, which will increase ISS protection from potential impacts of micro-meteorites and orbital debris. Two major payloads developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) were also delivered to the Station. The Lab-On-A Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) and the Water Delivery System, a vital component of the Station?s Oxygen Generation System. |
|
STS-116 Launch
| Name of Image |
STS-116 Launch |
| Date of Image |
2006-12-09 |
| Full Description |
Against a black night sky, the Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew head toward Earth-orbit and a scheduled linkup with the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B occurred at 8:47 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 9, 2006 in what was the first evening shuttle launch since 2002. The primary mission objective was to deliver and install the P5 truss element. The P5 installation was conducted during the first of three space walks, and involved use of both the shuttle and station?s robotic arms. The remainder of the mission included a major reconfiguration and activation of the ISS electrical and thermal control systems, as well as delivery of Zvezda Service Module debris panels, which will increase ISS protection from potential impacts of micro-meteorites and orbital debris. Two major payloads developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) were also delivered to the Station. The Lab-On-A Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) and the Water Delivery System, a vital component of the Station?s Oxygen Generation System. |
|
STS-116 Launch
| Name of Image |
STS-116 Launch |
| Date of Image |
2006-12-09 |
| Full Description |
Against a black night sky, the Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew head toward Earth-orbit and a scheduled linkup with the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B occurred at 8:47 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 9, 2006 in what was the first evening shuttle launch since 2002. The primary mission objective was to deliver and install the P5 truss element. The P5 installation was conducted during the first of three space walks, and involved use of both the shuttle and station?s robotic arms. The remainder of the mission included a major reconfiguration and activation of the ISS electrical and thermal control systems, as well as delivery of Zvezda Service Module debris panels, which will increase ISS protection from potential impacts of micro-meteorites and orbital debris. Two major payloads developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) were also delivered to the Station. The Lab-On-A Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) and the Water Delivery System, a vital component of the Station?s Oxygen Generation System. |
|
STS-96 Launch
| Name of Image |
STS-96 Launch |
| Date of Image |
1999-05-28 |
| Full Description |
This spectacular photo is of the May 27, 1999 liftoff of the Orbiter Discovery (STS-96). The STS-96 mission, of almost 10 days, was the second International Space Station (ISS) assembly and resupply flight and the first flight to dock with the station. The crew installed foot restraints and the Russian built crane, STRELA. The Shuttle's SPACEHAB double module carried internal and resupply cargo for station outfitting and the Russian cargo crane was carried aboard the shuttle in the integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC). |
|
Remote Operations Control Ce
…
| Name of Image |
Remote Operations Control Center (ROCC) |
| Date of Image |
1997-11-15 |
| Full Description |
Matthew Koss (forground) and Martin Glicksman (rear), principal investigator and lead scientist (respectively), review plans for the next step in the Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE) during the U.S. Microgravity Payload-4 (USMP-4) mission (STS-87, Nov. 19 - Dec. 5, 1997). Remote Operations Control Center (ROCC) like this one, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY, will become more common during operations with the International Space Station. IDGE, flown on three Space Shuttle missions, is yielding new insights into virtually all industrially relavent metal and alloy forming operations. Photo credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) |
|
Remote Operations Control Ce
…
| Name of Image |
Remote Operations Control Center (ROCC) |
| Date of Image |
1997-11-15 |
| Full Description |
Students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY, monitor the progress of the Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE) during the U.S. Microgravity Payload-4 (USMP-4) mission (STS-87, Nov. 19 - Dec. 5, 1997). Remote Operation Control Center (ROCC) like this one will become more common during operations with International Space Station. IDGE, flown on three Space Shuttle missions, is yielding new insights into virtually all industrially relevant metal and alloy forming operations. Photo credit: Renssenlaer Polythnic Institute (RPI) |
|
Handheld Diffusion Test Cell
…
| Name of Image |
Handheld Diffusion Test Cells |
| Date of Image |
2001-01-24 |
| Full Description |
This photo shows the Handheld Diffusion Test Cell (HH-DTC) apparatus flown on the Space Shuttle. Similar cells (inside the plastic box) will be used in the Observable Protein Crystal Growth Apparatus (OPCGA) to be operated aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The principal investigator is Dr. Alex McPherson of the University of California, Irvine. Each individual cell comprises two sample chambers with a rotating center section that isolates the two from each other until the start of the experiment and after it is completed. The cells are made from optical-quality quartz glass to allow photography and interferometric observations. Each cell has a small light-emitting diode and lens to back-light the solution. In protein crystal growth experiments, a precipitating agent such as a salt solution is used to absorb and hold water but repel the protein molecules. This increases the concentration of protein until the molecules nucleate to form crystals. This cell is one of 96 that make up the experiment module portion of the OPCGA. |
|
Handheld Diffusion Test Cell
…
| Name of Image |
Handheld Diffusion Test Cells |
| Date of Image |
2001-01-24 |
| Full Description |
This photo shows an individual cell from the Handheld Diffusion Test Cell (HH-DTC) apparatus flown on the Space Shuttle. Similar cells will be used in the Observable Protein Crystal Growth Apparatus (OPCGA) to be operated aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The principal investigator is Dr. Alex McPherson of the University of California, Irvine. Each individual cell comprises two sample chambers with a rotating center section that isolates the two from each other until the start of the experiment and after it is completed. The cells are made from optical-quality quartz glass to allow photography and interferometric observations. Each cell has a small light-emitting diode and lens to back-light the solution. In protein crystal growth experiments, a precipitating agent such as a salt solution is used to absorb and hold water but repel the protein molecules. This increases the concentration of protein until the molecules nucleate to form crystals. This cell is one of 96 that make up the experiment module portion of the OPCGA. |
|
STS-102 Onboard Photograph-I
…
| Name of Image |
STS-102 Onboard Photograph-International Space Station |
| Date of Image |
2001-03-01 |
| Full Description |
Backdropped against water and clouds, the International Space Station was separated from the Space Shuttle Discovery after several days of joint activities and an important crew exchange. This photograph was taken by one of the crew of this mission from the aft flight deck of Discovery. |
|
STS-102 Onboard Photograph-I
…
| Name of Image |
STS-102 Onboard Photograph-International Space Station |
| Date of Image |
2001-03-01 |
| Full Description |
One of the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery took this photograph, from the aft flight deck of the Discovery, of the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit. The photo was taken after separation of the orbiter Discovery from the ISS after several days of joint activities and an important crew exchange. |
|
A Farewell View of the Inter
…
| Name of Image |
A Farewell View of the International Space Station (ISS) |
| Date of Image |
2001-12-15 |
| Full Description |
As seen through a window on the Space Shuttle Endeavor's aft flight deck, the International Space Station (ISS), with its newly-staffed crew of three, Expedition Four, is contrasted against a patch of the blue and white Earth. The Destiny laboratory is partially covered with shadows in the foreground. The photo was taken during the departure of the Earth-bound Endeavor, bringing to a close the STS-108 mission, the 12th Shuttle mission to visit the ISS. |
|
Canadian "Handshake in Space
| Name of Image |
Canadian "Handshake in Space |
| Date of Image |
2001-04-28 |
| Full Description |
A Canadian "handshake" in space occurred on April 28, 2001, as the Canadian-built space station robotic arm (Canadarm-2) transferred its launch cradle over to Endeavor's robotic arm. Marning the controls from the shuttle's aft flight deck, Canadian Mission Specialist Chris A. Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) was instrumental in the activity. The Spacelab pallet that carried the Canadarm2 robotic arm to the station was developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. |
|
STS-96 Astronauts Adjust Uni
…
| Name of Image |
STS-96 Astronauts Adjust Unity Hatch |
| Date of Image |
1999-06-01 |
| Full Description |
Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts Rick D. Husband and Tamara E. Jernigan adjust the hatch for the U.S. built Unity node. The task was part of an overall effort of seven crew members to prepare the existing portion of the International Space Station (ISS). Launched on May 27, 1999, aboard the Orbiter Discovery, the STS-96 mission was the second ISS assembly flight and the first shuttle mission to dock with the station. |
|
Canadian "Handshake in Space
| Name of Image |
Canadian "Handshake in Space |
| Date of Image |
2001-04-28 |
| Full Description |
A Canadian "handshake" in space occurred on April 28, 2001, as the Canadian-built space station robotic arm (Canadarm2) transferred its launch cradle over to Endeavour's robotic arm. Pictured is astronaut James S. Voss, Expedition Two flight engineer, working the controls of the new robotic arm. Marning the controls from the shuttle's aft flight deck, Canadian Mission Specialist Chris A. Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) was instrumental in the activity. The Space lab pallet that carried the Canadarm2 robotic arm to the station was developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. |
|
Onboard photo: Astronauts at
…
| Name of Image |
Onboard photo: Astronauts at work |
| Date of Image |
1997-07-01 |
| Full Description |
Onboard Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-94) Mission Specialist Michael L. Gernhardt performs an observation at the Expedite Processing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack in the Spacelab Science Module. The EXPRESS rack accommodates experiments compatible with the Shuttle mid-deck, since the mid-deck will be used to ferry payloads to the International Space Station (ISS). The Microgravity Sciences Laboratory (MSL-1) mission provides an opportunity to test and demonstrate this Space Station hardware. Shown here in the rack is the Astro/Plant Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus, used for studying the adaptation of higher plant systems to space flight. |
|
STS-96 Onboard Crew Photo
| Name of Image |
STS-96 Onboard Crew Photo |
| Date of Image |
1999-06-04 |
| Full Description |
The STS-96 crew paused for an International Space Station (ISS) onboard group photo. Pictured on the bottom row (left to right) are Mission Specialists Daniel Barry, Julie Payette, and Ellen Ochoa. Pictured on the top row (left to right) are Cosmonaut Valery Ivanovich Tokarev, and Tamara Jernigan, Mission Specialists, Kent Rominger, Commander, and Rick Husband, Pilot. STS-96 was the second ISS assembly flight and the first flight to dock with the station. The 10 day mission crew launched aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery on May 27, 1999. |
|
The Payload Operations Cente
…
| Name of Image |
The Payload Operations Center (POC) at the Marshall Space Flight Center |
| Date of Image |
2001-02-01 |
| Full Description |
The Payload Operations Center (POC) is the science command post for the International Space Station (ISS). Located at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, it is the focal point for American and international science activities aboard the ISS. The POC's unique capabilities allow science experts and researchers around the world to perform cutting-edge science in the unique microgravity environment of space. The POC is staffed around the clock by shifts of payload flight controllers. At any given time, 8 to 10 flight controllers are on consoles operating, plarning for, and controlling various systems and payloads. This photograph shows the Data Management Coordinators (DMC's) at a work station. The DMC configures on-board data systems to ensure payloads receive their downlinked science results and experiment telemetry in a timely manner. |
|
Hurricane Dean
| Title |
Hurricane Dean |
| Description |
The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season had been running for several months before it saw its first hurricane, Dean. Dean began as a wave-like disturbance in the cloud bands off South America, which gathered together to form a storm system on August 13. By August 18, Dean had grown in power to become a Category 4 hurricane, [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] swirling in the Caribbean Sea. The storm caused great damage to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Island, among other Caribbean islands, and as of August 19, it was forecast to come ashore on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula not far from the border with Belize. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml? ] were also expecting the storm to continue to gather power to Category 5 strength. While weather and Earth science satellites are known for getting a perspective on storms as they orbit the Earth, they were not the only sensors viewing Hurricane Dean from high above. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station and the crew of the Space Shuttle "Endeavour" passed over the storm on August 18. These two photographs were taken by astronauts on "Endeavour" moments from each other. The first is a close-up of the eye of the storm, the second is a wider-angle view, both taken by a handheld camera around noon local time. Hurricane Dean showed a deep and well-defined eye at the center of the storm, with powerful thunderstorms around the eyewall sending up tall towers of clouds. In the close-up view, these towering clouds appear to be casting shadows on the cloud deck below them. The deep eye of the storm has a clear three-dimensional shape in these oblique angle photographs, but the camera angle does not allow us to see down the bottom of the storm. At the time of these photographs, Hurricane Dean was passing just south of Jamaica as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds as high as 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour). NASA photographs provided courtesy of NASA Public Affairs Office. |
|
Hurricane Dean
| Title |
Hurricane Dean |
| Description |
The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season had been running for several months before it saw its first hurricane, Dean. Dean began as a wave-like disturbance in the cloud bands off South America, which gathered together to form a storm system on August 13. By August 18, Dean had grown in power to become a Category 4 hurricane, [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] swirling in the Caribbean Sea. The storm caused great damage to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Island, among other Caribbean islands, and as of August 19, it was forecast to come ashore on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula not far from the border with Belize. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml? ] were also expecting the storm to continue to gather power to Category 5 strength. While weather and Earth science satellites are known for getting a perspective on storms as they orbit the Earth, they were not the only sensors viewing Hurricane Dean from high above. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station and the crew of the Space Shuttle "Endeavour" passed over the storm on August 18. These two photographs were taken by astronauts on "Endeavour" moments from each other. The first is a close-up of the eye of the storm, the second is a wider-angle view, both taken by a handheld camera around noon local time. Hurricane Dean showed a deep and well-defined eye at the center of the storm, with powerful thunderstorms around the eyewall sending up tall towers of clouds. In the close-up view, these towering clouds appear to be casting shadows on the cloud deck below them. The deep eye of the storm has a clear three-dimensional shape in these oblique angle photographs, but the camera angle does not allow us to see down the bottom of the storm. At the time of these photographs, Hurricane Dean was passing just south of Jamaica as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds as high as 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour). NASA photographs provided courtesy of NASA Public Affairs Office. |
|
Kharg Island, Iran
| Title |
Kharg Island, Iran |
| Description |
high resolution 1000 pixel-wide image (1.2 MB JPEG) Kharg Island is Iran's primary oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. This rocky limestone island is unique because it is one of the few islands in the Persian Gulf with freshwater which has collected within the porous limestone. In addition to its commercial and strategic importance, the freshwater has biological importance, supporting populations of gazelles. This high-resolution photograph taken by astronauts [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/IssRemoteSensing/ ] on board the International Space Station shows detail of the tanker dock facilities, tanks and other infrastructure. Sunglint on the surface of the water highlights small amounts of oil on the sea surface and reveals the direction of the local currents.ISS005-E-11900, [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS005& roll=E&frame=11900 ] taken 31 August 2002, was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Approaching the Internationa
…
| Title |
Approaching the International Space Station |
| Explanation |
Last Monday the crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ] took in this view [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-106/html/s106e5056.html ] as they approached the developing International Space Station [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/faq/index.html ] (ISS). From top to bottom, the astronauts saw a station currently consisting of the Progress supply module, the Zvezda service module [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/assembly2_overview.htm ], the Zarya cargo module [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/element1.htm ], and the Unity connecting module [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/element2.htm ]. Never before had astronauts seen the station since the remote-controlled additions of Progress [ http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/progress_prelaunch_000805.html ] and Zvezda [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000718.html ]. Energy collecting flat solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.edu/projects/vss/docs/Power/1-what-are-solar-panels.html ] can be seen extending from some of the modules. Soon after this picture was taken, Atlantis docked with the ISS [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/ ] at the Unity [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-106/html/s106e5061.html ] end. The astronauts have worked hard [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/STS-106/index.htm ] unloading supplies, installing and testing equipment, and even planning to reboost the floating space station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990223.html ] to a higher orbit. The Shuttle and its entire crew are scheduled to return to Earth Wednesday. The Space Shuttle Discovery [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/discovery.html ] is then scheduled to visit [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-92/index.html ] the ISS in two weeks. |
|
Discovery Spring
| Title |
Discovery Spring |
| Explanation |
Welcome to the equinox [ http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Classroom/Lessons/ Sundials/equinox.html ]! Moving northward in Earth's sky, today the Sun crosses [ http://www.analemma.com/ ] the celestial equator at 13:31 Universal Time [ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/UT.html ] bringing Spring to the north and Fall to the south. The change of season is known as an equinox as the Sun rises [ http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Classroom/Lessons/ Sundials/sundials.html ] due east on the horizon and sets due west -- providing an equal night [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000923.html ], 12 night and 12 daylight hours, for both northern and southern hemispheres. In this picture [ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/captions/ 2001/mar/01pp0440.htm ] from March 8, the Sun peers over the eastern horizon at the space shuttle Discovery's dramatic morning launch on mission STS-102. Having delivered supplies and taxied crew to the International Space Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010228.html ], Discovery will remain in orbit for this first day of northern hemisphere Spring. Discovery is scheduled to land [ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/landing.htm ] at Kennedy Space Center [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ ] in Florida early tomorrow. |
|
Approaching the Internationa
…
| Title |
Approaching the International Space Station |
| Explanation |
Earlier this month the crew of the US [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html ] Space Shuttle Endeavor [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/endeavour.html ] took in this view [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-100/html/s100e5165.html ] as they approached the developing International Space Station [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ ] (ISS). The Endeavor [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/crew/ ] and ISS crew [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp2/index.html ] installed Italy [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/it.html ]'s Raffaello, a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/mplm/ ] and successfully deployed Canada [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ca.html ]'s Canadarm2 [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/mss/index.html ], a robot remote-controlled arm that can move about the outside of the station [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/flights/2001/6a.html ]. The shuttle undocked from the ISS [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000918.html ] yesterday and is scheduled to return to Earth today. A manned [ ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2001/01-083.txt ] Russian [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html ] Soyuz spacecraft [ http://www.spaceandtech.com/spacedata/elvs/soyuz_sum.shtml ] is scheduled to dock with Earth's busiest orbiting outpost [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/faq/index.html ] early today. |
|
Atlantis to Orbit
| Title |
Atlantis to Orbit |
| Explanation |
Birds [ http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/ ] don't fly this high. Airplanes [ http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/background/ ] don't go this fast. The Statue of Liberty [ http://www.nps.gov/stli/ ] weighs less. No species [ http://www.sp2000.org/ ] other than human can even comprehend what is going on, nor could any human [ http://www.neanderthal-modern.com/ ] just a millennium ago. The launch of a rocket [ http://rax.arc.nasa.gov/activities/pofo/docs/Propulsion/zoom-conventional.html ] bound for space is an event that inspires awe [ http://www.drsky.com/1099-lightshow.html ] and challenges description. Pictured above [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-104/images/captions/KSC-01PP-1284.html ], the Space Shuttle Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ] lifted off to visit the International Space Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010509.html ] during the early morning hours of July 12. From a standing start, the two million kilogram rocket ship left [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010219.html ] to circle the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010204.html ] where the outside air is too thin to breathe and where there is little noticeable onboard gravity [ http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/ ]. Rockets [ http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/TRC/Rockets/history_of_rockets.html ] bound for space are now launched [ http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/ssa/docs/Space.Shuttle/general.shtml ] from somewhere on Earth about once a week [ http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/launch_schedule.html ]. |
|
Atlantis on Pad 39A
| Title |
Atlantis on Pad 39A |
| Explanation |
An intricate network of lighting plays across the 130 foot high Rotating Service Structure [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/ rotating-service-structure.html ] (RSS) in this dramatic night view of the Space Shuttle [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/vehicle/ index.html ] Atlantis on the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad [ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/ padstoc.htm ] 39A. Seen here [ http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/ detail.cfm?mediaid=34863 ] after rolling back before Thursday's shuttle launch [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/ index.html ], the RSS provides pre-launch access to the orbiter [ http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/ system_Orbiter.html ] and its payload. For this mission, STS-122 [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/ shuttlemissions/sts122/index.html ], to the International Space Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071127.html ], Atlantis' payload is the European Space Agency's Columbus science laboratory [ http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESAAYI0VMOC_iss_0.html ]. During the mission, three space walks are planned to attach the Columbus lab. Atlantis is expected to dock with the space station today. digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080209.html', digg_skin = 'compact'; |
|
The Newly Expanded Internati
…
| Title |
The Newly Expanded International Space Station |
| Explanation |
What does the developing International Space Station [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/index.htm ] (ISS) look like now? After delivering and deploying a crucial first backbone-like component [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020415.html ] last week, the Space Shuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010412.html ] Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ] took an inspection lap around the space station [ http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/sitemap.html ]. The newly installed truss is visible toward the center of the above image [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-110/html/s110e6058.html ]. Also visible are many different types of modules [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/flights/chron.html ], a robotic arm [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010509.html ], several wing-like solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.edu/projects/vss/docs/Power/1-what-are-solar-panels.html ], and a supply ship. Construction began on the ISS [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ ] in 1998 and the core structure [ http://www.howstuffworks.com/space-station1.htm ] should be in place before 2005. |
|
Mir is 10
| Title |
Mir is 10 |
| Explanation |
The first module of the Russian Space Agency's Mir Space Station [ http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/mir/Welcome.html ] was launched into orbit 10 years ago (on February 20, 1986). Mir has since been substantially expanded [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/mir.html ] in orbit by adding additional modules including the Kvant Astrophysics Module [ http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/kvant.html ](1987) and recently a docking module. NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950812.html ] was modified to allow it to dock with Mir in 1995 (STS-71, [ http://lib04.jsc.nasa.gov/sts-71/ ], STS 74 [ http://lib04.jsc.nasa.gov/sts-74/glance/ ]) beginning a series of Shuttle-Mir flights [ http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bdp/vsohp/mir-shuttle.html ] scheduled to continue through 1997. In this wide angle view - poised above planet Earth with sunlight glinting from solar panels - Mir and Atlantis are seen connected via the docking module from the perspective of the shuttle payload bay. The image is from an IMAX movie frame [ http://lib04.jsc.nasa.gov/sts-74/images/imax/ ] taken during the STS 74 mission. In late 1997, building on this jointly developed understanding and experience, the US and Russia will launch the first modules of the International Space Station [ http://issa-www.jsc.nasa.gov/ss/spacestation.html ]. |
|
The International Space Stat
…
| Title |
The International Space Station Expands Again |
| Explanation |
The developing International Space Station [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/index.htm ] (ISS) has changed its appearance yet again. Last month the Space Shuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010412.html ] Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html ] visited the ISS [ http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/sitemap.html ] and installed the third of eleven pieces that will compose the Integrated Truss Structure [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/its/ ]. The new S-1 Truss [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/flights/9a.html ] is visible on the right, below the extended solar panels across the top. The world's foremost space outpost [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ ] can be seen developing over the past few years by comparing the above image [ http://spacefLIGHT.NASA.GOV/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-112/html/s112e05823.html ] to past [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020423.html ] images [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020102.html ]. Also visible above are many different types of modules [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/flights/chron.html ], a robotic arm [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010509.html ], several wing-like solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.edu/projects/vss/docs/Power/1-what-are-solar-panels.html ], and a supply ship. Construction began on the ISS [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ ] in 1998 and the core structure [ http://www.howstuffworks.com/space-station1.htm ] should be in place before 2005. Yesterday, the ISS celebrated its second anniversary [ http://www.nasa.gov/releases/2002/02_212.html ] of continuous human habitation. |
|
The International Space Stat
…
| Title |
The International Space Station Expands Yet Again |
| Explanation |
The developing International Space Station [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/index.htm ] (ISS) has changed its appearance yet again. Earlier this month the Space Shuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010412.html ] Endeavor [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/endeavour.html ] visited the ISS [ http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/sitemap.html ] and installed the fourth of eleven pieces that will compose the Integrated Truss Structure [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/its/ ]. The new P-1 Truss [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/flights/11a.html ] is visible on the left, below the extended solar panels. The world's foremost space outpost [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ ] can be seen developing over the past few years by comparing the above image [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-113/html/s113e05448.html ] to [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021103.html ] past [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020423.html ] images [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020102.html ]. Also visible above are many different types of modules [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/assembly/ndxpage1.html ], a robotic arm [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010509.html ], several wing-like solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.edu/projects/vss/docs/Power/1-what-are-solar-panels.html ], and a supply ship. Construction began on the ISS [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ ] in 1998 and the core structure [ http://www.howstuffworks.com/space-station1.htm ] should be in place before 2005. |
|
M2-F1 lifting body and Pares
…
| Title |
M2-F1 lifting body and Paresev 1B on ramp |
| Description |
In this photo of the M2-F1 lifting body and the Paresev 1B on the ramp, the viewer sees two vehicles representing different approaches to building a research craft to simulate a spacecraft able to land on the ground instead of splashing down in the ocean as the Mercury capsules did. The M2-F1 was a lifting body, a shape able to re-enter from orbit and land. The Paresev (Paraglider Research Vehicle) used a Rogallo wing that could be (but never was) used to replace a conventional parachute for landing a capsule-type spacecraft, allowing it to make a controlled landing on the ground. The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially conceived as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F" referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter "Whitey" Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder. Together with Boyden "Bud" Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47 aircraft and released. These initial car-tow tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to l20 mph. A small solid landing rocket, referred to as the "instant L/D rocket," was installed in the rear base of the M2-F1. This rocket, which could be ignited by the pilot, provided about 250 pounds of thrust for about 10 seconds. The, Rogallo wing was never used on a spacecraft, it revolutionized the sport of hang gliding, and a different but related kind of wing will be used on the X-38 technology demonstrator for a crew return vehicle from the International space station., referred to as a `space frame.' The keel and leading edges of the wings were constructed of 2 1/2-inch diameter aluminum tubing. The leading edge sweep angle was held constant at 50 degrees by a rigid spreader bar. Additional wing structure fabricated of steel tubing ensured structural integrity. Seven weeks after the project was initiated the team rolled out the Paresev 1. It resembled a grown-up tricycle, with a rudimentary seat, an angled tripod mast, and, perched on top of the mast, a Rogallo-type parawing. The pilot sat out in the open, strapped in the seat, with no enclosure of any kind. He controlled the descent rate by tilting the wing fore and aft, and turned by tilting the wing from side to side with a control stick that came from overhead. NASA registered the Paresev, the first NASA research airplane to be constructed totally "in-house," with the Federal Aviation Administration on February 12, 1962. Flight testing started immediately. There was one space frame built called the Paresev that used four different wing types. Paresev 1 had a linen membrane, with the control stick coming from overhead in front of the pilots seat. Paresev 1A had a regulation control stick and a Dacron membrane. Paresev 1B had a smaller Dacron membrane with the space frame remaining the same. Paresev 1C used a half-scale version of the inflatable Gemini parawing with a small change to the space frame. All `space frames,' regardless of the parawing configuration, had a shield with "Paresev 1-A" and the NASA meatball on the front of the vehicle. PARESEV-1 After the space frame was completed a sailmaker was asked to sew the wing membrane according to the planform developed by NASA Flight Research Center personnel. He suggested using Dacron instead of the linen fabric chosen, but yielded to the engineers' specs. A nylon bolt rope was attached in the trailing edge of the 150-square-foot wing membrane. The rope was unrestrained except at the wing tips and was therefore free to equalize the load between the two lobes of the wing. This worked reasonably well, but flight tests proved the wing to be too flexible with it flapping and bulging in alarming ways. The poor membrane design led to trailing edge flutter, with longitudinal and lateral stick forces being severe. A number of different rigging modifications to improve the flying characteristics were tried, but very few were successful and none were predictable. Everything seemed to affect stick forces in the worst way. The fifth flight aloft lasted 10 seconds. On a ground tow the Paresev and pilot fell 10 feet. Considerable damage was done to the Paresev with the pilot, Bruce Peterson, being taken to the base hospital. Injuries sustained by the pilot were not serious. After this accident the Paresev was extensively rebuilt and renamed, Paresev-1A. PARESEV 1-A The sailmaker was asked again to construct a 150-square-foot membrane the way he wanted to. The resulting wing membrane had excellent contours in flight and, rocket could be used to extend the flight time near landing if needed. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 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, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program, with an X-24A and -B built by Martin. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated the feasibility of the lifting body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project). The Paresev (Paraglider Rescue Vehicle) was an indirect outgrowth of kite-parachute studies by NACA Langley engineer Francis M. Rogallo. In the early 1960s the "Rogallo wing" seemed an excellent means of returning a spacecraft to Earth. The delta wing design was patented by Mr. Rogallo. In May 1961, Robert R. Gilruth, director NASA's Space Task Group, requested studies of an inflatable Rogallo-type "Parawing" for spacecraft. Several companies responded, North American Aviation produced the most acceptable concept and development was contracted to that company. In November 1961 NASA Headquarters launched a paraglider development program, with Langely doing wind-tunnel studies and the NASA Flight Research Center supporting the North American test program. The North American concept was a capsule type vehicle with a stowed "parawing" that could be deployed and controlled from within for a landing more like an airplane instead of a "splash down" in the ocean as was the practice in the Mercury and later the Gemini and Apollo programs. The logistics became enormous and the price exorbitant, besides which, NASA pilots and engineers felt some baseline experience like building a vehicle and flying a Parawing should be accomplished first. The Paresev (Paraglider Research Vehicle) was used to gain in-flight experience with four different membranes (wings) and was not used to develop the more complicated inflatable deployment system. The Paresev was designed by Charles Richard, of the Flight Research Center's Vehicle and System Dynamics Branch, with the rest of the team being: engineers Richard Klein, Gary Layton, John Orahood, and Joe Wilson, Frank Fedor and LeRoy Barto from the Maintenance and Manufacturing Branch, Project Manager Victor Horton, with Gary Layton becoming Project Manager later on in the Program. Mr. Paul Bikle, Director of the Center, gave instructions that were short and to the point: build a single-seat Paraglider and "do it quick and cheap." The Paresev was unpowered, the "fuselage" an open framework fabricated of welded 4130 steel tubing, was made from 6 ounce Dacron. The space frame was rebuilt with more sophistication than the Paresev 1 had. The shock absorbers were Ford automotive parts, the wing universal joint was a 1948 Pontiac part, and the tires and wheels were from a Cessna 175 aircraft. The overhead stick was replaced with a stick and pulley arrangement that operated more like conventional aircraft controls. This vehicle had much improved stick forces and handling qualities. The instrumentation used to obtain data was quite crude, partially as a result of the desire to keep the program simple and low in cost and also because there was no onboard power. To measure performance, technicians installed a large alpha vane on the wing apex with a scale at the trailing edge that the pilot could read directly. A curved bubble level measured the vehicle's attitude, and a Fairchild camera recorded the glide slope PARESEV 1-B The Paresev 1-B used the Paresev 1-A space frame with a smaller Dacron wing (100 square feet) and was flight tested to evaluate its handling qualities with lower lift-to-drag values. One NASA project engineer described its gliding ability as "pretty scary." PARESEV 1-C The space frame of the vehicle remained almost unchanged from the earlier vehicles. However, a new control box gave the pilot the ability to increase or decrease the nitrogen in the inflatable wing supports to compensate for the changing density of the air. Two bottles of nitrogen provided an extra supply of nitrogen. The vehicle featured a partially inflatable wing. The whole wing was not inflatable, the three chambers that acted as spars and supported the wing inflated. The center spar ran fore and aft and measured 191 inches, two other inflatable spars formed the leading edges. These three compartments were filled with nitrogen under pressure to make them rigid. The Paresev in this configuration was expected to closely approximate the aerodynamic characteristics that would be encountered with the Gemini space capsule with a parawing extended. The Paresev was very unstable in flight with this configuration. The first Paresev flights began with tows across the dry lakebed, in 1962, using a NASA vehicle, an International Harvester carry-all (6 cylinder). Eventually ground and airtows were done using a Stearman sport biplane (450 hp), a Piper Super Cub (150-180 hp), Cessna L-19 (200 hp Bird Dog) and a Boeing-Vertol HC-1A. Speed range of the Paresev was about 35-65 mph. The Paresev completed nearly 350 flights during a research program from 1962 until 1964. Pilots flying the Paresev included NASA pilots Milton Thompson, Bruce Peterson, and Neil Armstrong from Dryden, Robert Champine from Langley, and astronaut Gus Grissom, plus North American test pilot Charles Hetzel. The Paresev was legally transferred to the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. Despite its looks, the Paresev was a useful research aircraft that helped develop a new way to fly. Although the |
| Date |
01.01.1963 |
|
M2-F1 on lakebed with Pontia
…
| Title |
M2-F1 on lakebed with Pontiac convertible tow vehicle |
| Description |
The M2-F1 lifting body, dubbed the "flying bathtub" by the media, was the precursor of a remarkable series of wingless flying vehicles that contributed data used in the space shuttle and the X-38 Technology Demonstrator for crew return from the International Space Station. The early tow tests were done using the 1963 Pontiac Catalina convertible modified for the purpose. The first flight attempt occurred on 1 March 1963 but was unsuccessful due to control-system problems. It was not until 5 April 1963, after tests in the Ames Research Center wind tunnel, that Milt Thompson made the first M2-F1 tow flight. Based on the ideas and basic design of Alfred J. Eggers and others at the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory (now the Ames Research Center), Mountain View, Calif., in the mid-1950s, the M2-F1 came to be built over a four-month period in 1962-63 for a cost of only about $30,000 plus perhaps an additional $8,000-$10,000 for an ejection seat and $10,000 for solid-propellant rockets to add time to the landing flare. Engineers and technicians at the NASA Flight Research Center (now NASA Dryden) kept costs low by designing and fabricating it partly in-house, with the plywood shell constructed by a local sailplane builder. Someone at the time estimated that it would have cost a major aircraft company $150,000 to build the same vehicle. Unlike the later lifting bodies, the M2-F1 was unpowered and was initially towed until it was airborne by a souped-up Pontiac convertible. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter "Whitey" Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder. Together with Boyden "Bud" Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47 aircraft and released. In this photograph, the Pontiac with its NASA markings is shown next to the M2-F1. The pilot in the M2-F1 is Milt Thompson. The crew chief at the nose of the lifting body is Orion "Bill" Billeter. The individual standing in the center of the group is John Orahood. Dick Eldredge is in the back seat of the Pontiac. The man to Orahood's left is unidentified, as is the driver of the Catalina, but the man in the driver's seat is probably "Whitey" Whiteside. |
| Date |
01.01.1963 |
|
Aero Spacelines B377SG Super
…
| Title |
Aero Spacelines B377SG Super Guppy on Ramp Loading the X-24B and HL-10 Lifting Bodies. |
| Description |
The Aero Spacelines B377SG Super Guppy was at Dryden in May, 1976, to ferry the X-24 and HL-10 lifting bodies from the Center to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The oversized cargo aircraft is a further modification of the B377PG Pregnant Guppy, which was built to transport outsized cargo for NASA's Apollo program, primarily to carry portions of the Saturn V rockets from the manufacturer to Cape Canaveral. The original Guppy modification incorporated the wings, engines, lower fuselage and tail from a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser with a huge upper fuselage more than 20 feet in diameter. The Super Guppy further expanded the fuselage added a taller vertical tail for better lateral stability. A later version, the Super Guppy Turbine, is still in occasional use by NASA to transport oversize structures. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. Lifting bodies' aerodynamic lift, essential to flight in the atmosphere, was obtained from their shape. The addition of fins and control surfaces allowed the pilots to stabilize and control the vehicles and regulate their flight paths. Built by Martin Aircraft Company, Maryland, for the U.S. Air Force, the X-24A was a bulbous vehicle shaped like a teardrop with three vertical fins at the rear for directional control. It weighed 6,270 pounds, was 24.5 feet long and 11.5 feet wide (measuring just the fuselage, not the distance between the tips of the outboard fins). Its first unpowered glide flight was on April 17, 1969, with Air Force Maj. Jerauld Gentry at the controls. Gentry also piloted its first powered flight on March 19, 1970. The X-24A was flown 28 times in the program that, like the HL-10, validated the concept that a Space Shuttle vehicle could be landed unpowered. The fastest speed achieved by the X-24A was 1,036 miles per hour (mph--Mach 1.6). Its maximum altitude was 71,400 feet. It was powered by an XLR-11 rocket engine with a maximum theoretical vacuum thrust of 8,480 pounds. The X-24A was later modified into the X-24B. The bulbous shape of the X-24A was converted into a "flying flatiron" shape with a rounded top, flat bottom, and double delta platform that ended in a pointed nose. The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. The vehicle is on display at the Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The pilot on the last powered flight of the X-24B was Bill Dana, who also flew the last X-15 flight about seven, years earlier. The X-24A shape was later borrowed for the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) technology demonstrator for the International Space Station. The X-24B is on public display at the Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The HL-10 was delivered to the FRC by Northrop in January 1966. Its first flight was on Dec. 22 of the same year. The pilot was Bruce Peterson. The HL-10 was flown 37 times and it set several program records. On Feb. 18, 1970, Air Force test pilot Maj. Peter Hoag flew it to 1,228 mph (Mach 1.86), fastest speed of any of the lifting bodies. Nine days later, NASA's Bill Dana flew the HL-10 to 90,303 feet, the highest altitude reached by any of the lifting body vehicles. The HL-10 was also the first lifting body to fly supersonically--on May 9, 1969, with Manke at the controls. The HL-10 featured a flat bottom and rounded top -- much like an airfoil -- and it had a delta planform. In its final configuration, three vertical fins, two of them canted outwards from the body and a tall center fin, gave the craft directional control. A flush canopy blended into the smooth rounded nose. It was about 21 feet long, with a span of 13.6 feet. Its glide-flight weight was 6,473 lbs. and its maximum gross weight was over 10,000 lbs. Flights with the HL-10 contributed substantially to the decision to design the space shuttles without air-breathing engines that would have been used for landings. Its final flight was on July 17, 1970. The HL-10 is now on public display at Dryden. |
| Date |
05.01.1976 |
|
Shuttle Enterprise Mated to
…
| Title |
Shuttle Enterprise Mated to 747 SCA in Flight |
| Description |
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., The Space Shuttle Enterprise, the nation's prototype space shuttle orbiter, departed NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, at 11:00 a.m., 16 May 1983, on the first leg of its trek to the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France. Carried by the huge 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), the first stop for the Enterprise was Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Piloting the 747 on the Europe trip were Joe Algranti, Johnson Space Center Chief Pilot, Astronaut Dick Scobee, and NASA Dryden Chief Pilot Tom McMurtry. Flight engineers for that portion of the flight were Dryden's Ray Young and Johnson Space Center's Skip Guidry. The Enterprise, named after the spacecraft of Star Trek fame, was originally carried and launched by the 747 during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Dryden Flight Research Center. 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 |
| Date |
01.01.1983 |
|
Shuttle Enterprise Mated to
…
| Title |
Shuttle Enterprise Mated to 747 SCA on Ramp |
| Description |
The Space Shuttle Enterprise, the nation's prototype space shuttle orbiter, before departing NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, at 11:00 a.m., 16 May 1983, on the first leg of its trek to the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France. Seen here atop the huge 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), the first stop for the Enterprise was Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Piloting the 747 on the Europe trip were Joe Algranti, Johnson Space Center Chief Pilot, Astronaut Dick Scobee, and NASA Dryden Chief Pilot Tom McMurtry. Flight engineers for that portion of the flight were Dryden's Ray Young and Johnson Space Center's Skip Guidry. The Enterprise, named after the spacecraft of Star Trek fame, was originally carried and launched by the 747 during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Dryden Flight Research Center. 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 |
01.01.1982 |
|
Endeavour lands atop 747 aft
…
| Title |
Endeavour lands atop 747 after downtime at Palmdale, CA |
| Description |
The Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour arrives at KSCs Shuttle Landing Facility atop NASAs Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) as it returns March 27, 1997 from Palmdale, Calif., after an eight-month Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP). Nearly 100 modifications were made to Endeavour during that time period, including some that were directly associated with work required to support International Space Station Operations. The most extensive of those was the installation of an external airlock to allow the orbiter to dock with the Station. Other modifications included upgrades to Endeavours power supply system, general purpose computers and thermal protection system, along with the installation of new light-weight commander and pilot seats and other weight-saving modifications. |
| Date |
03.28.1997 |
|
STS-101 crew heads for Astro
…
| Title |
STS-101 crew heads for Astrovan and trip to launch pad |
| Description |
The STS-101 crew show their joy and eagerness to begin their mission as they had to the Astrovan for the trip to Launch Pad 39A and the fourth attempt at launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis. In their orange launch and entry suits, they are (left to right) Mission Specialists Susan J. Helms, Yury Usachev of Russia, James S. Voss, Mary Ellen Weber, Jeffrey N. Williams, Pilot Scott "Doc" Horowitz, and Commander James D. Halsell Jr. The mission will take the crew to the International Space Station to deliver logistics and supplies and to prepare the Station for the arrival of the Zvezda Service Module, expected to be launched by Russia in July 2000. Also, the crew will conduct one space walk and will reboost the space station from 230 statute miles to 250 statute miles. This will be the third assembly flight to the Space Station. Liftoff of Space Shuttle Atlantis for the 10-day mission is scheduled for about 6:11 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39A. Landing is targeted for May 29 at 2:19 a.m. EDT. |
| Date |
05.19.2000 |
|
STS-101 SPACEHAB Double Modu
…
| Title |
STS-101 SPACEHAB Double Module ready for transfer to payload canister |
| Description |
After being uncrated in the Space Station Processing Facility, the SPACEHAB Double Module (left) waits for transfer to the payload canister (right) that will take it to Launch Pad 39A. There it will be installed in the Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay for mission STS-101. The module carries internal logistics and resupply cargo for restoring full redundancy to the International Space Station power system in preparation for the arrival of the next pressurized module, the Russian-built Zvezda. The STS-101 crew of seven comprises Commander James D. Halsell Jr., Pilot Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz (Ph.D.) and Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber (Ph.D.), James S. Voss, Jeffrey N. Williams, Susan J. Helms and Yuri Vladimirovich Usachev, cosmonaut. Launch of Atlantis on mission STS-101 is scheduled no earlier than April 17, 2000. |
| Date |
03.15.2000 |
|
STS-81 Crew Members in front
…
| Title |
STS-81 Crew Members in front of Atlantis |
| Description |
The STS-81 crew poses in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis as it stands poised for liftoff from Launch Pad 39B to dock with the Mir space station. They are (from left): Mission Specialists Marsha S. Ivins, Mission Commander Michael A. Baker, Mission Specialists J.M. "Jerry" Linenger and Peter J. K. "Jeff" Wisoff, Pilot Brent W. Jett, Jr., and Mission Specialist John M. Grunsfeld. STS81 is the fifth Shuttle-wazzu Mir docking mission and will feature the transfer of Linenger to Mir to replace astronaut John Blaha, who has been on the orbital laboratory since Sept. 19 after arrival there during the STS-79 mission. During STS-81, Shuttle and Mir crews will conduct risk mitigation, human life science, microgravity and materials processing experiments that will provide data for the design, development and operation of the International Space Station. The - primary payload is the SPACEHAB-DM double module will provide space for more than 2,000 pounds of hardware, food and water that will be transferred into the Russian space station during five days of docking operations during the 10-day mission. The SPACEHAB will also be used to return experiment samples from the Mir to Earth for analysis and for microgravity experiments during the mission. |
| Date |
12.15.1996 |
|
STS-85 Manipulator Flight De
…
| Title |
STS-85 Manipulator Flight Demonstrator installed in OPF |
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER , FLA., -- The Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) payload is installed into the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility 2. The MFD is one of several payloads that will fly on the STS-85 mission. This payload is designed to test the operational capability of the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEM RMS) Small Fine Arm (SFA), which can be seen atop its Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure (MPESS) carrier that will serve as platform in the payload bay for the robotic arm experiment. The arm, which will be a part of the JEM element of the International Space Station, will be operated from the orbiter's aft flight deck during the 11-day mission. Other payloads that will be aboard Discovery on this space flight include the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA- SPAS-2), Technology Applications and Science-1 (TAS-1) and International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-2) experiments. |
| Date |
05.14.1997 |
|
STS-85 Manipulator Flight De
…
| Title |
STS-85 Manipulator Flight Demonstrator installed in OPF |
| Description |
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER , FLA., -- The Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) payload is installed into the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility 2. The MFD is one of several payloads that will fly on the STS-85 mission. This payload is designed to test the operational capability of the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEM RMS) Small Fine Arm (SFA), which can be seen atop its Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure (MPESS) carrier that will serve as a platform in the payload bay for the robotic arm experiment. The arm, which will be a part of the JEM element of the International Space Station, will be operated from the orbiter's aft flight deck during the 11-day mission. Other payloads that will be aboard Discovery on this space flight include the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA- SPAS-2), Technology Applications and Science-1 (TAS-1) and International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-2) experiments. |
| Date |
05.14.1997 |
|
|
