The Space

Shuttle

1. What led to the creation of the shuttle program? What year was the program created?

•The Apollo program led to the shuttle program, with the idea of reusable and more

environmentally friendly space travel. In 1961 a Task Group was formed, and in 1981 the

space shuttle was launched. 

2. How is the space shuttle program different from the Apollo program, and how was it more

environmentally friendly?

• The booster, approximately the size of a Boeing 747,

would fly to a high altitude, where the orbiter would detach and fly into orbit.

The booster then returned to a runway for landing. While the cheapest to operate; this design was the costliest to

develop.

3. Name the orbiters used from 1970-1991. What

were they named after?

• All were named after famous sailing ships: • Columbia - the first US ship to circumnavigate the globe.

• Challenger - British Naval research vessel HMS Challenger, which sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific in the 1870's.

• Atlantis - the first US oceanic research ship (1930-66). • Discovery - used by Captain Cook to explore the northern Pacific

Ocean. • Endeavor - Captain Cook's ship exploring the eastern coast of

Australia and New Zealand.

4. Why is a huge fountain of water needed for the

shuttle launch?

• Water is needed under the launch pad to absorb sound waves during, or the launch platform would break.

5. When does the shuttle go into ‘reverse’, and

why?

• Halfway around the world, the shuttle goes into reverse  for 30 minutes to slow down so that it can

dip into the atmosphere.

6. How does he shuttle slow itself down? How hot

does it get?

• As the orbiter enters the upper atmosphere it reduces its velocity further by performing a number of 'fish tails'. The

friction of air molecules colliding with the orbiter cause temperatures on the orbiters surface to hit 19,000 degrees

Celsius.

7. How are the astronauts protected from the extreme

heat?

• The astronauts are protected from the extreme heat with blankets and carbon

tiles that absorb the heat of friction.

8. What speed does the shuttle orbit the earth at, and how long

does it take?

• The shuttle travels at the speed of over 25,000km/h. It takes about 90 minutes to

do one lap of the earth.

• It was a very cold day for tropical Florida

to launch a Space shuttle. This cold weather is

what caused the "O-rings" to expand because

they were frozen. In this launch it took part

of a second before one of the "O-rings" set

burnt up leaving black smoke immediately

after lift off. T

he nose of the SRB punctured

the external tank causing liquid oxygen and

hydrogen burst out of there pressured tank

and ignite into a ball of fire. If the astronauts

survived the blast the water impact would

have killed them.

•When they first launched people into space they went to the washroom through long tubes, but the arrival of women astronauts brought a new way to go to the washroom. Now they have toilets with a light breeze of air sucking the waste

to the waste management system.

Bibliography

• http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/space-shuttle-launch3a.jpg&imgrefurl=http://travel.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle.htm&h=427&w=389&sz=16&tbnid=YXM72oNbzt4J:&tbnh=122&tbnw=111&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThe%2BSpace%2BShuttle%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

• http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/pictures/2003/0522shuttleshine/Image-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/newsroom/tv%2520page/G03-027_earth.html&h=540&w=684&sz=63&tbnid=NpsCes-i2F8J:&tbnh=108&tbnw=137&start=4&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThe%2BSpace%2BShuttle%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

Continued on next slide.

Bibliography

• http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/images/shuttle-flame.gif&imgrefurl=http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/fm/oldfm/fm-old-sw-ver-jet-select.html&h=1037&w=832&sz=327&tbnid=L4hyN5lhtGYJ:&tbnh=150&tbnw=120&start=16&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThe%2BSpace%2BShuttle%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

• http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wallpaper.net.au/wallpaper/space/Space%2520Shuttle%2520Launch%2520-%2520800x600.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wallpaper.net.au/wallpaper_space1.php&h=600&w=800&sz=115&tbnid=EH9PiiBlFs8J:&tbnh=106&tbnw=141&start=23&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThe%2BSpace%2BShuttle%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN