Space Shuttle Orbiter.html

Space Shuttle orbiter
The Discovery orbiter approaches the ISS on STS-121
Organization	NASA
Mission type	Orbiter
Satellite of	Earth
Launch vehicle	Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster
Launch site	Kennedy Space Center
Home page	Space Shuttle Home

The Space Shuttle orbiters are the orbital spacecraft of the Space Shuttle program operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States.¹ Each orbiter is a reusable winged "spaceplane", a mixture of rocket, spacecraft, and aircraft. The spaceplane can carry crews and payloads into Earth orbit, perform on-orbit operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider, comfortably returning their crew and any on-board payload to Earth.

In addition to the crew and payload the reusable orbiter carries most of the main propulsion system, but the propellant for its three main engines is fed from a non-reusable external tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters help propel both the orbiter and the external tank during the first two minutes of ascent.

1 Description
2 Specifications
3 Fleet
4 Flight statistics
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Description

Orbital Vehicle

The Orbiter resembles an aircraft with double-delta wings, swept 81° at the inner leading edge and 45° at the outer leading edge. Its vertical stabilizer's leading edge is swept back at a 45° angle. The four elevons, mounted at the trailing edge of the wings, and the rudder/speed brake, attached at the trailing edge of the stabilizer, with the body flap, control the Orbiter during descent and landing. It is roughly the size of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9.

The Orbiter's crew cabin consists of three levels: the flight deck, the mid-deck, and the utility area. The upper-most is the flight deck which seats the commander and pilot, with two mission specialists behind them. The mid-deck, which is below the flight deck, has three more seats for the rest of the crew members. The galley, toilet, sleep locations, storage lockers, and the side hatch for entering/exiting the vehicle are also located on the mid-deck, as is the airlock hatch. The airlock has another hatch into the payload bay. It allows two astronauts, wearing their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suits, to depressurize before a space walk.

The Orbiter has a large 60 by 15 ft (18 m by 4.6 m) payload bay, filling most of the midfuselage. The payload bay doors have heat radiators mounted on their inner surfaces, and so are kept open for thermal control while the Shuttle is in orbit. Thermal control is also maintained by adjusting the orientation of the Shuttle relative to Earth and Sun. Inside the payload bay is the Remote Manipulator System, also known as the Canadarm, a robot arm used to retrieve and deploy payloads. Until the loss of Columbia, the Canadarm had been used only on those missions where it was needed. Since that mission, the arm has become a crucial part of the Thermal Protection Inspection procedures now required for Shuttle flights. Therefore, it is likely that the Canadarm will be included on all future flights.^{citation needed} Three fuel cells are located under the payload bay area. They consume onboard liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen stores to generate all the electrical power for the vehicle from launch to landing.

The view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis connected to Russia's Mir Space Station was photographed by the Mir-19 crew on July 4, 1995.

Three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) are mounted on the Orbiter's aft fuselage in a triangular pattern. The three engines can swivel 10.5 degrees up and down and 8.5 degrees from side to side during ascent to change the direction of their thrust and steer the Shuttle as well as push. The aft fuselage also houses three auxiliary power units. The APUs are hydrazine-fueled turbopumps to provide hydraulic pressure for the hydraulic system, which gimbals the three main engines, controls aerosurfaces, and deploys the landing gears.

Two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) thusters are mounted in two separate pods in the Orbiter's aft fuselage located between the SSMEs and the vertical stabilizer of the Orbiter. The OMS engines provide significant thrust for coarse orbital maneuvers, including insertion, circularization, transfer, rendezvous, deorbit, abort to orbit, and abort once around².

The Reaction Control System (RCS) is comprised of 44 smaller thrusters and provides attitude control and translation along the pitch, roll, and yaw axes during the flight phases of orbit insertion, orbit, and re-entry. The forward RCS jets near the nose of the Orbiter include 12 primary and 2 vernier RCS engines. The aft RCS engines are located in the OMS pods of the vehicle and include 12 primary and 2 vernier RCS engines in each pod. The RCS system provides the finest control of the Orbiter and is used for the maneuvering during the rendezvous pitch maneuver, docking and undocking with the International Space Station.³

The Thermal Protection System (TPS) covers the outside of the Orbiter, protecting it from the cold soak of -121 °C (-250 °F) in space to the 1649 °C (3000 °F) heat of re-entry.

The orbiter structure is made primarily from aluminum alloy, although the engine thrust structure is made from titanium alloy. The windows, which are made out of a polycarbonate, are tinted with the same ink used to make American Banknotes⁴.

The shuttle has neither anti collision, navigation nor landing lights. When landing at night the runway is flooded with light from ground spotlights.

Specifications

(for Endeavour, OV-105)

Length: 122.17 ft (37.24 m)
Wingspan: 78.06 ft (23.79 m)
Height: 58.58 ft (17.25 m)
Empty Weight: 151,205 lbs (68,586.6 kg)
Gross Liftoff Weight: 240,000 lbs (109,000 kg)
Maximum Landing Weight: 230,000 lbs (104,000 kg)
Main Engines: Three Rocketdyne Block 2 A SSMEs, each with a sea level thrust of 393,800 lbf (178,624 kgf / 1.75MN)
Maximum Payload: 55,250 lb (25,061.4 kg)
Payload Bay dimensions: 15 ft by 60 ft (4.6 m by 18.3 m)
Operational Altitude: 100 to 520 nm (185 to 1,000 km)
Speed: 25,404 ft/s (7,743 m/s, 27,875 km/h, 17,321 mph)
Crossrange: 1,085 nautical miles (2,009.4 km)
Crew: 6-7 (Commander, Pilot, 4-5 Mission Specialists and/or Payload Specialists), 2 (Commander and Pilot) for minimum.

Fleet

Shuttle launch profiles. From left to right: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.

Individual Orbiters are both named, in a manner similar to ships, and numbered, using the NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation system. While all Orbiters are externally very similar, they have minor internal differences; new equipment is fitted on a rotating basis as they are maintained, and the newer Orbiters tend to be structurally lighter.

Test Articles
Number	Name	Notes
OV-098 (honorary)	Pathfinder	Orbiter Simulator for moving and handling tests
MPTA-098	N/A	Testbed for propulsion and fuel delivery systems
STA-099	N/A	Structural test article used for stress and thermal testing, later became Challenger
Orbiters
Number	Name	Notes
OV-099	Challenger	Destroyed after liftoff - January 28, 1986
OV-101	Enterprise	Used for approach and landing tests, not suitable for spaceflight
OV-102	Columbia	Destroyed during reentry February 1, 2003
OV-103	Discovery	First launched on August 30, 1984. The only shuttle to have the distinct characteristic as NASA's Return to Flight vehicle, following the Challenger and Columbia disasters.
OV-104	Atlantis	First launched on October 3, 1985
OV-105	Endeavour	First launched on May 7, 1992

Challenger while in service as structural test article STA-099.

Enterprise was a prototype designed to test Space Shuttle behavior in atmospheric flight. It performed various performance tests from February 12, 1977 to October 26, 1977. Several times from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s NASA considered retrofitting it for space flight but because of a redesign during the Columbia's construction it was deemed too costly. As a prototype Space Shuttle, rocket engines or a proper heat shield were never installed. It is currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport, where it is the centerpiece of the space flight collection.
Columbia first launched on April 12, 1981. On February 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated during re-entry on its 28th mission.
Challenger first launched on April 4, 1983. On January 28, 1986 it broke up 73 seconds after the launch of its 10th mission.
Discovery first launched on August 30, 1984. It has flown 35 missions and is still operational today. It is due to be retired in 2010.
Atlantis first launched on October 3, 1985. It has flown 29 missions and is still operational today. It is scheduled to be retired in 2010.
Endeavour first launched on May 7, 1992. It has flown 22 missions and is still operational today. It is due to be retired in 2010.

Adventure on display at Space Center Houston.

In addition to the test articles and Orbiters produced for use in the Shuttle program, there are also various mockups on display throughout the world:

Space Shuttle Explorer, a full scale replica of an Orbiter at the Kennedy Space Center visitor's complex
Space Shuttle Adventure, a full scale mockup of an Orbiter mid-deck and flight deck at Space Center Houston

Space Shuttle America, a full-scale mockup of the actual space shuttle for a theme park attraction
Space Shuttle Pathfinder, a full-scale mockup of the actual space shuttle displayed at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama

Flight statistics

The factual accuracy of this table may be compromised due to out-of-date information.
You can improve the article by updating it. There may be information on the talk page.

Shuttle	Flight days	Orbits	Distance		Flights ⁵	Longest flight (in days)	Crews	EVAs	Mir/ISS docking	Satellites deployed
Shuttle	Flight days	Orbits	mi	km	Flights ⁵	Longest flight (in days)	Crews	EVAs	Mir/ISS docking	Satellites deployed
Columbia †	300.74	4,808	125,204,911	201,497,772	28	17.66	160	7	0 / 0	8
Challenger †	62.41	995	25,803,940	41,527,416	10	8.23	60	6	0 / 0	10
Discovery	296.84	4,671	115,140,673	185,300,951	35	15.39	209	39	1 / 8	31
Atlantis	245.58	3,873	89,533,755**	144,090,611**	29	13.84	174	25	7 / 8	14
Endeavour	219.35	3,461	90,347,054	145,399,490	22	16.63	137	33	1 / 7	3
Total	1137.17	17,808	446,030,333**	717,816,240**	123	—	830	113	9 / 23	66

(as of 21 August 2007)

** Information for STS-117 not yet available, last updated 22 December 2006. Information for STS-118 not included either, 5,274,977 mi (8,489,253 km) as of _______. Info for STS-126 also not availible.

† No longer in service (destroyed).

References

^ "Facts About the Space Shuttles". NASA.
^ Orbital Maneuvering System
^ HSF - The Shuttle
^ http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/441167-p4.html
^ "Space Shuttle Flights by Orbiter publisher=NASA". Retrieved on 2008-10-31.

External links

Orbiter Vehicles

v • d • e Space Shuttle program

Core topics	Space Shuttle · Space Shuttle program

Components	Orbiter · Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) · External Tank (ET) · Main Engine (SSME) · Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS)

Orbiters	Enterprise · Columbia · Challenger · Discovery · Atlantis · Endeavour

Launch sites	Kennedy Space Center LC-39 · Vandenberg AFB SLC-6

Landing sites	Shuttle Landing Facility · Edwards Air Force Base · White Sands Space Harbor · Abort Landing Sites

Developments	Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle (SDLV) · Shuttle-C · Ares I · Ares IV · Ares V

Testing	Pathfinder · MPTA · MPTA-ET · ALT

Related topics	Missions (cancelled) · Decision to build · Crews · Abort modes · Space shuttles in fiction · Crawler-transporter · Shuttle Carrier Aircraft · Space Shuttle America (motion simulator ride) · Space Shuttle Explorer (shuttle replica) · Shuttle Training Aircraft · Getaway Special · Rollbacks

Space Shuttles

	US Space Shuttle program		Soviet Buran program
	Enterprise (OV-101, atmospheric tests, retired) Pathfinder (OV-098, ground tests) Columbia (OV-102, destroyed 2003) Challenger (OV-099, destroyed 1986) Discovery (OV-103, active) Atlantis (OV-104, active) Endeavour (OV-105, active)		OK-GLI (Buran Analog BST-02, aerotester) Buran (Shuttle 1.01, destroyed 2002) Ptichka (Shuttle 1.02, 95–97% completed) Baikal (Shuttle 2.01, incomplete) 2.02 (partially dismantled) 2.03 (dismantled)