Questions tagged [space-shuttle]
The Space Shuttle was a crewed, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft operated by NASA from 1981 to 2011.
630 questions
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What is the thrust to weight ratio of space shuttle without the SRB's? [duplicate]
Imagine a space shuttle without the two SRB's. When at launch configuration will the the shuttle's 3 RS-25 provide the thrust to lift the shuttle?
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Two Get Away Specials were on board STS-51B. What's a "Get Away Special"?
From NASA.gov's STS-51B: Mission Highlights The primary payload was Spacelab-3. This was the first operational flight for the Spacelab orbital laboratory series developed by the European Space Agency....
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How did the monkeys aboard STS-51B like being weightless? Were they prepared for microgravity or was the "surprise" part of the experiment?
From NASA.gov's STS-51B: Mission Highlights The primary payload was Spacelab-3. This was the first operational flight for the Spacelab orbital laboratory series developed by the European Space Agency....
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Space Shuttle HUD use outside of landing?
Has the Space Shuttle's HUD ever been used for anything other than the entry, TAEM and landing phases, or has such usage ever been considered (e.g. as a visual reference for ISS proximity manoeuvres ...
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Could the shuttle have avoided the umbilical plate if the LH2 and LOx had been piped directly to the nozzles?
One of the riskier components of the Shuttle's design (that fortunately never failed) are the umbilical doors on the rear underside of the orbiter. There are probably aerodynamic and structural ...
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At what point in the Shuttle's design process was the 3g acceleration limit uncovered for the second stage of flight?
I'm watching a new documentary on the Shuttle, and one of the astronauts talks about how during the second stage, they limit the acceleration of the vehicle to 3g, to prevent the wings from shearing ...
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Ascent trajectory Non Stagnation Point wall temperature Space Shuttle External tank
Are there any available data on the Space Shuttle External Tank wall temperatures, for the points and surfaces other than the stagnation point? I found an interesting paper here -> https://ntrs....
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Space Shuttle Main Engine TVC actuator torque
Curious if there are references for the Shuttle Main Engine Gimballing actuator torque and the arm distance between CG of the Shuttle and the gimballing point. edit (from comment) ... the torque and ...
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Can there be a program similar to the space shuttle program?
The Space Shuttle program was mankind's first reusable spacecraft program. Later on July 21st, 2011, it was discontinued due to maintenance expenses. Is it possible (Given today's technological ...
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Prior to Polaris Dawn, when was the most recent non-station EVA?
Prior to the Polaris Dawn spacewalk in September 2024, when was the most recent non-station EVA? Specifically excluding: EVAs that occurred at the ISS or Tiangong space station EVAs that occured from ...
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How many of the heat shield tiles on Atlantis and Endeavour are original?
Original in this context means heat shield tiles that were never replaced. From my answer to Are there any original heat shield tiles on any of the retired space shuttles that flew to space?, 75% of ...
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Hypothetical Shuttle tank sep with SRBs firing
Hypothetically, say you had 5 secs warning of a SRB destruction event in the SRB ascent phase of Shuttle. My understanding is that there was no abort possible during the SRB phase, so no RTLS, no ...
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Are there any original heat shield tiles on any of the retired space shuttles that flew to space?
By "original" I mean that they never needed to be replaced during the life of the vehicle. My reasoning is that if NASA had engineered the shuttle optimally, all the tiles would have been ...
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Did the Space Shuttle weigh itself before deorbit?
Back in the day, it was standard for commercial airlines to calculate the mass of an airliner before takeoff, using assumptions of average passenger weight along with accounts of fuel loaded or ...
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Do space stations have anything that big spacecraft (such as the Space Shuttle and SpaceX Starship) don't have?
For quite some time I wonder why spacefaring countries find it necessary to go to space stations instead of doing scientific research on the spacecraft they launched on. Of course, modular space ...