Shuttle flights. What is a shuttle? History of creation and photos

3.1.2. Main technical characteristics The main technical characteristics of the Mirage-GE-iX-Ol device are as follows: Maximum output load current +12 V………………….. 100 mA switching relay 12 V………………………. Current consumption in standby mode... 350 mA current consumption

3.2.2. Main technical characteristics The main technical characteristics of the Mirage-GSM-iT-Ol controller are as follows: Number of GSM/GPRS communication networks……………………… 2 Communication channel testing period…. from 10 sec. Notification delivery time………………. 1–2 sec (TCP/IP)Basic

The American government program STS (Space Transportation System) is better known throughout the world as the Space Shuttle. This program was implemented by NASA specialists, its main goal was the creation and use of a reusable manned transport spacecraft designed to deliver people and various cargo to low Earth orbits and back. Hence the name – “Space Shuttle”.

Work on the program began in 1969 with funding from two US government departments: NASA and the Department of Defense. Development and development work was carried out within the framework of a joint NASA programs and the Air Force. At the same time, experts applied a number of technical solutions that had previously been tested on the lunar modules of the Apollo program of the 1960s: experiments with solid propellant accelerators, systems for their separation and receiving fuel from an external tank. The basis of the space transport system being created was to be a reusable manned spacecraft. The system also included ground support complexes (the installation test and launch landing complex at the Kennedy Space Center, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Florida), a flight control center in Houston (Texas), as well as data relay systems and communications via satellites and other means .

All leading American aerospace companies took part in the work under this program. The program was truly large-scale and national; various products and equipment for the Space Shuttle were supplied by more than 1,000 companies from 47 states. Rockwell International won the contract to build the first orbital vehicle in 1972. Construction of the first two shuttles began in June 1974.

First flight of the space shuttle Columbia. The external fuel tank (in the center) is painted white only in the first two flights. Subsequently, the tank was not painted to reduce the weight of the system.

Structurally, the reusable space transport system Space Shuttle included two salvageable solid fuel accelerators, which served as the first stage and an orbital reusable vehicle (orbiter, orbiter) with three oxygen-hydrogen engines, as well as a large outboard fuel compartment, which formed the second stage. After completing the space flight program, the orbiter independently returned to Earth, where it landed like an airplane on special runways.
Two solid rocket boosters operate for about two minutes after launch, accelerating and guiding the spacecraft. After which, at an altitude of approximately 45 kilometers, they are separated and splashed down into the ocean using a parachute system. After repair and refilling, they are used again.

Burning in earth's atmosphere The external fuel tank, filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen (fuel for the main engines), is the only disposable element of the space system. The tank itself also serves as a frame for attaching solid rocket boosters to the spacecraft. It is discarded in flight about 8.5 minutes after takeoff at an altitude of about 113 kilometers, most of the tank burns up in the earth's atmosphere, and the remaining parts fall into the ocean.

The most famous and recognizable part of the system is the reusable spacecraft itself - the shuttle, in fact the “space shuttle” itself, which is launched into low-Earth orbit. This shuttle serves as a testing ground and platform for scientific research in space, as well as a home for the crew, which can include from two to seven people. The shuttle itself is made according to an airplane design with a delta wing in plan. It uses an airplane-type landing gear for landing. If solid rocket boosters are designed to be used up to 20 times, then the shuttle itself is designed to last up to 100 flights into space.

Dimensions of the orbital ship compared to Soyuz

What we managed to implement, and what of our plans remained only on paper

As part of a symposium dedicated to the implementation of the Space Shuttle program, which took place in October 1969, the “father” of the shuttle, George Mueller, noted: “Our goal is to reduce the cost of delivering a kilogram of payload into orbit from $2,000 for Saturn V to the level 40-100 dollars per kilogram. This way we can open a new era of space exploration. The challenge in the coming weeks and months for this symposium, as well as for NASA and the Air Force, is to ensure that we can achieve this.” Overall for various options Based on the Space Shuttle, the cost of launching a payload was predicted to range from 90 to 330 dollars per kilogram. Moreover, it was believed that the second generation shuttles would reduce the amount to $33-66 per kilogram.

In reality, these figures turned out to be unattainable even close. Moreover, according to Muller's calculations, the cost of launching the shuttle should have been 1-2.5 million dollars. In fact, according to NASA, the average cost of a shuttle launch was about $450 million. And this significant difference can be called the main discrepancy between the stated goals and reality.

Shuttle Endeavor with open cargo bay

Space Shuttle program goals achieved:

1. Implementation of cargo delivery into orbit different types(upper stages, satellites, segments of space stations, including the ISS).
2. Possibility of repairing satellites located in low Earth orbit.
3. Possibility of returning satellites back to Earth.
4. The ability to fly up to 8 people into space (during the rescue operation the crew could be increased to 11 people).
5. Successful implementation reusability of flight and reusable use of the shuttle itself and solid propellant boosters.
6. Implementation in practice of a fundamentally new layout of the spacecraft.
7. The ability of the ship to perform horizontal maneuvers.
8. Large volume of the cargo compartment, the ability to return cargo weighing up to 14.4 tons to Earth.
9. The cost and development time were managed to meet the deadlines that were promised to US President Nixon in 1971.

Not goals achieved and failures:
1. High-quality facilitation of access to space. Instead of reducing the cost of delivering a kilogram of cargo into orbit by two orders of magnitude, the Space Shuttle actually turned out to be one of the most expensive methods of delivering satellites into Earth orbit.
2. Quick preparation shuttles between space flights. Instead of the expected period of two weeks between launches, the shuttles could actually take months to prepare for launch into space. Before the Challenger space shuttle disaster, the record between flights was 54 days; after the disaster, it was 88 days. Over the entire period of their operation, they were launched on average 4.5 times a year, while the minimum acceptable economically feasible number of launches was 28 launches per year.
3. Easy to maintain. Selected when creating shuttles technical solutions were quite labor-intensive to maintain. The main engines required dismantling procedures and time-consuming servicing. The turbopump units of the engines of the first model required their complete overhaul and repair after each flight into space. Thermal protection tiles were unique - each slot had its own tile installed. There were 35 thousand of them in total, and the tiles could have been damaged or lost during the flight.
4. Replacement of all disposable media. The shuttles never launched into polar orbits, which was necessary mainly for the deployment of reconnaissance satellites. IN in this direction Preparatory work was carried out, but it was curtailed after the Challenger disaster.
5. Reliable access to space. Four space shuttles meant that the loss of any of them would be the loss of 25% of the entire fleet (there were always no more than 4 flying orbiters; the Endeavor shuttle was built to replace the lost Challenger). After the disaster, flights were stopped for a long period, for example, after the Challenger disaster - for 32 months.
6. The shuttles' carrying capacity was 5 tons lower than required by military specifications (24.4 tons instead of 30 tons).
7. Greater horizontal maneuver capabilities were never used in practice for the reason that the shuttles did not fly into polar orbits.
8. The return of satellites from earth orbit stopped already in 1996, while only 5 satellites were returned from space over the entire period.
9. Satellite repairs turned out to be in little demand. A total of 5 satellites were repaired, although the shuttles also carried out maintenance 5 times famous telescope"Hubble".
10. Implemented engineering solutions negatively affected the reliability of the entire system. At the time of takeoff and landing, there were areas that left no chance for the crew to survive. emergency situation.
11. The fact that the shuttle could only carry out manned flights exposed astronauts to unnecessary risks, for example, automation would have been enough for routine satellite launches into orbit.
12. The closure of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 overlapped with the cancellation of the Constellation program. This caused the United States to lose independent access to space for many years. As a result, image losses and the need to purchase seats for their astronauts on spaceships of another country (Russian manned Soyuz spacecraft).

Shuttle Discovery performs a maneuver before docking with the ISS

The shuttles were designed to stay in Earth orbit for two weeks. Usually their flights lasted from 5 to 16 days. The record for the shortest flight in the program belongs to the Columbia shuttle (it died along with the crew on February 1, 2003, the 28th flight into space), which in November 1981 spent only 2 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes in space. The same shuttle also made its longest flight in November 1996 - 17 days 15 hours 53 minutes.

In total, during the operation of this program from 1981 to 2011, space shuttles carried out 135 launches, of which Discovery - 39, Atlantis - 33, Columbia - 28, Endeavor - 25, Challenger - 10 (died along with the crew on January 28, 1986). In total, as part of the program, the five shuttles listed above were built and flew into space. Another shuttle, the Enterprise, was built first, but was initially intended only for ground and atmospheric tests, as well as preparatory work at launch sites, and never flew into space.

It is worth noting that NASA planned to use the shuttles much more actively than actually happened. Back in 1985, specialists from the American space agency expected that by 1990 they would make 24 launches every year, and the ships would fly up to 100 flights into space, but in practice, all 5 shuttles made only 135 flights in 30 years, two of which ended catastrophe. The record for the number of flights into space belongs to the Discovery shuttle - 39 flights into space (the first on August 30, 1984).

Shuttle Atlantis landing

The Space Transportation System program was officially completed in 2011. All operational shuttles were decommissioned and sent to museums. The last flight took place on July 8, 2011 and was carried out by the Atlantis shuttle with a crew reduced to 4 people. The flight ended early in the morning of July 21, 2011. Over 30 years of operation, these spacecraft completed 135 flights; in total, they made 21,152 orbits around the Earth, delivering 1.6 thousand tons of various payloads into space. During this time, the crews included 355 people (306 men and 49 women) from 16 various countries. Astronaut Franklin Story Musgrave was the only one to fly all five shuttles built.

Information sources:
https://geektimes.ru/post/211891
https://ria.ru/spravka/20160721/1472409900.html
http://www.buran.ru/htm/shuttle.htm
Based on materials from open sources

The Space Transportation System, better known as the Space Shuttle, is an American reusable transport spacecraft. The shuttle is launched into space using launch vehicles, maneuvers in orbit like a spacecraft, and returns to Earth like an airplane. It was understood that the shuttles would scurry like shuttles between low-Earth orbit and the Earth, delivering payloads in both directions. During development, it was envisaged that each of the shuttles would be launched into space up to 100 times. In practice, they are used much less. By May 2010, the most flights - 38 - were made by the Discovery shuttle. A total of five shuttles were built from 1975 to 1991: Columbia (burned up on landing in 2003), Challenger (exploded on launch in 1986), Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor. On May 14, 2010, the Space Shuttle Atlantis made its final launch from Cape Canaveral. Upon returning to Earth, it will be decommissioned.

History of application

The shuttle program has been developed by North American Rockwell on behalf of NASA since 1971.
Shuttle Columbia was the first operational reusable orbiter. It was manufactured in 1979 and transferred to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle Columbia was named after the sailing ship on which Captain Robert Gray explored in May 1792 inland waters British Columbia(now the US states of Washington and Oregon). At NASA, Columbia is designated OV-102 (Orbiter Vehicle - 102). The Columbia shuttle died on February 1, 2003 (flight STS-107) while entering the Earth's atmosphere before landing. It was the 28th space trip"Columbia".
The second space shuttle, Challenger, was delivered to NASA in July 1982. It was named after a seagoing vessel that explored the ocean in the 1870s. NASA designates the Challenger as OV-099. Challenger died on its tenth launch on January 28, 1986.
The third shuttle, Discovery, was delivered to NASA in November 1982.
The shuttle Discovery was named for one of the two ships on which British captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands and explored the coasts of Alaska and northwestern Canada in the 1770s. One of the ships of Henry Hudson, who explored Hudson Bay in 1610-1611, bore the same name (“Discovery”). Two more Discovery were built by the British Royal Geographical Society for the exploration of the North Pole and Antarctica in 1875 and 1901. NASA designates Discovery as OV-103.
The fourth shuttle, Atlantis, entered service in April 1985.
The fifth shuttle, Endeavor, was built to replace the lost Challenger and entered service in May 1991. The shuttle Endeavor was also named after one of James Cook's ships. This vessel was used in astronomical observations, which made it possible to accurately determine the distance from the Earth to the Sun. This ship also took part in expeditions to explore New Zealand. NASA designates Endeavor as OV-105.
Before Columbia, another shuttle was built, the Enterprise, which in the late 1970s was used only as a test vehicle to test landing methods and did not fly into space. At the very beginning, it was planned to name this orbital ship “Constitution” in honor of the bicentennial of the American Constitution. Later, based on numerous suggestions from viewers of the popular television series Star Trek, the name Enterprise was chosen. NASA designates the Enterprise as OV-101.
Shuttle Discovery takes off. STS-120 mission

General information
Country United States of America USA
Purpose Reusable transport spacecraft
Manufacturer United Space Alliance:
Thiokol/Alliant Techsystems (SRBs)
Lockheed Martin (Martin Marietta) - (ET)
Rockwell/Boeing (orbiter)
Main characteristics
Number of stages 2
Length 56.1 m
Diameter 8.69 m
Launch weight 2030 t
Payload weight
- at LEO 24,400 kg
- in Geostationary orbit 3810 kg
Launch history
Status active
Launch Sites Kennedy Space Center, Complex 39
Vandenberg AFB (planned in the 1980s)
Number of starts 128
- successful 127
- unsuccessful 1 (launch failure, Challenger)
- partially unsuccessful 1 (re-entry failure, Columbia)
First launch April 12, 1981
Last launch autumn 2010

Design

The shuttle consists of three main components: the orbiter (Orbiter), which is launched into low-Earth orbit and which is, in fact, a spacecraft; large external fuel tank for main engines; and two solid rocket boosters that operate within two minutes of liftoff. After entering space, the orbiter independently returns to Earth and lands like an airplane on a runway. Solid propellant boosters are splashed down by parachute and then used again. The external fuel tank burns up in the atmosphere.


History of creation

There is a serious misconception that the Space Shuttle program was created for military purposes, as a kind of “space bomber”. This deeply incorrect “opinion” is based on the “capability” of shuttles to carry nuclear weapons (any sufficiently large passenger airliner has this capability to the same extent (for example, the first Soviet transcontinental airliner Tu-114 was created on the basis of the strategic nuclear carrier Tu-95) and on theoretical assumptions about “orbital dives”, which reusable orbital ships are supposedly capable of (and even carried out).
In fact, all references to the “bomber” mission of the shuttles are contained exclusively in Soviet sources, as an assessment of the military potential of the space shuttles. It is fair to assume that these “assessments” were used to convince senior management of the need for an “adequate response” and create their own similar system.
The history of the space shuttle project begins in 1967, when even before the first manned flight under the Apollo program (October 11, 1968 - the launch of Apollo 7), more than a year remained as a review of the prospects for manned astronautics after the completion of NASA's lunar program.
On October 30, 1968, two main NASA centers (the Manned Spacecraft Center - MSC - in Houston and the Marshall Space Center - MSFC - in Huntsville) approached American space firms with a proposal to explore the possibility of creating a reusable space system, which was supposed to reduce the costs of the space agency subject to intensive use.
In September 1970, the Space Task Force under the leadership of US Vice President S. Agnew, specially created to determine the next steps in space exploration, issued two detailed drafts of possible programs.
The big project included:

* space shuttles;
* orbital tugs;
* a large orbital station in Earth orbit (up to 50 crew members);
* small orbital station in orbit of the Moon;
* creation of a habitable base on the Moon;
* manned expeditions to Mars;
* landing people on the surface of Mars.
As a small project, it was proposed to create only a large orbital station in Earth orbit. But in both projects, it was determined that orbital flights: supplying the station, delivering cargo into orbit for long-distance expeditions or ship blocks for long-distance flights, changing crews and other tasks in Earth orbit must be carried out by a reusable system, which then received the name Space Shuttle.
There were also plans to create a "nuclear shuttle" - a shuttle with a nuclear propulsion system NERVA (English), which was developed and tested in the 1960s. The nuclear shuttle was supposed to fly between the Earth's orbit, the orbit of the Moon and Mars. The supply of the atomic shuttle with the working fluid for the nuclear engine was entrusted to the familiar ordinary shuttles:

Nuclear Shuttle: This reusable rocket would rely on the NERVA nuclear engine. It would operate between low earth orbit, lunar orbit, and geosynchronous orbit, with its exceptionally high performance enabling it to carry heavy payloads and to do significant amounts of work with limited stores of liquid-hydrogen propellant. In turn, the nuclear shuttle would receive this propellant from the Space Shuttle.

SP-4221 The Space Shuttle Decision

However, US President Richard Nixon rejected all options because even the cheapest one required $5 billion a year. NASA faced a difficult choice: it had to either begin a new major development or announce the termination of the manned program.
It was decided to insist on creating a shuttle, but to present it not as a transport ship for assembling and servicing the space station (keeping this, however, in reserve), but as a system capable of generating profit and recouping investments by launching satellites into orbit on a commercial basis. Economic expertise confirmed: theoretically, provided there are at least 30 flights per year and a complete refusal to use disposable media, the space shuttle system can be cost-effective.
The project to create the Space Shuttle system was adopted by the US Congress.
At the same time, in connection with the abandonment of disposable launch vehicles, it was determined that the shuttles were responsible for launching into earth orbit all promising devices of the US Department of Defense, CIA and NSA.
The military presented their demands on the system:

* The space system must be capable of launching a payload of up to 30 tons into orbit, returning a payload of up to 14.5 tons to Earth, and have a cargo compartment size of at least 18 meters long and 4.5 meters in diameter. This was the size and weight of the optical reconnaissance satellite KN-II, which was then being designed, from which it later evolved orbital telescope Hubble.
* Provide lateral maneuver capability for the orbital vehicle up to 2000 kilometers for ease of landing at a limited number of military airfields.
* For launch into circumpolar orbits (with an inclination of 56-104º), the Air Force decided to build its own technical, launch and landing complexes at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

This limited the military department's requirements for the space shuttle project.
It was never planned to use shuttles as “space bombers”. In any case, there are no documents from NASA, the Pentagon, or the US Congress indicating such intentions. “Bomber” motives are not mentioned either in the memoirs or in the private correspondence of the participants in the creation of the space shuttle system.
The X-20 Dyna Soar space bomber project officially launched on October 24, 1957. However, with the development of silo-based ICBMs and a nuclear submarine fleet armed with ballistic missiles, the creation of orbital bombers in the United States was considered inappropriate. After 1961, references to “bomber” missions disappeared from the X-20 Dyna Soar project, but reconnaissance and “inspection” missions remained. On February 23, 1962, Secretary of Defense McNamara approved the latest restructuring of the program. From that point on, Dyna-Soar was officially designated as a research program to explore and demonstrate the feasibility of a manned orbital glider maneuvering during reentry and landing on a runway at a given location on Earth with the required precision. By mid-1963, the Department of Defense had serious doubts about the need for the Dyna-Soar program. On December 10, 1963, Secretary of Defense McNamara canceled Dyna-Soar.
When making this decision, it was taken into account that spacecraft of this class cannot “hang” in orbit for a long enough time to be considered “orbital platforms”, and launching each ship into orbit takes not even hours, but days and requires the use of heavy-class launch vehicles, which does not allow them to be used for the first , nor for a retaliatory nuclear strike.
Many of the technical and technological developments of the Dyna-Soar program were subsequently used to create orbital vehicles such as the Space Shuttle.
The Soviet leadership, closely monitoring the development of the space shuttle program, but assuming the worst, looked for a “hidden military threat”, which formed two main assumptions:

* It is possible to use space shuttles as carriers of nuclear weapons (this assumption is fundamentally incorrect for the above reasons).
* It is possible to use space shuttles to abduct Soviet satellites and DOS (long-term manned stations) from V. Chelomey’s Almaz OKB-52 from Earth’s orbit. For protection, Soviet DOS were supposed to be equipped even with automatic cannons designed by Nudelman - Richter (OPS was equipped with such a cannon). The assumption of “abductions” was based solely on the dimensions of the cargo compartment and the return payload, openly declared by the American shuttle developers to be close to the dimensions and weight of the Almaz. The Soviet leadership was not informed about the dimensions and weight of the HK-II reconnaissance satellite, which was being developed at the same time.
As a result, the Soviet space industry received the task of creating a reusable space system with characteristics similar to the Space Shuttle system, but with a clearly defined military purpose, as an orbital delivery vehicle for thermonuclear weapons.

Tasks

Space shuttle ships are used to launch cargo into orbits at an altitude of 200-500 km, conduct scientific research, and service orbital spacecraft (installation and repair work).
The Space Shuttle Discovery delivered the Hubble Telescope into orbit in April 1990 (flight STS-31). Four servicing missions were carried out on the shuttles Columbia, Discovery, Endeavor and Atlantis. Hubble telescope. The last shuttle mission to Hubble took place in May 2009. Since NASA planned to stop shuttle flights in 2010, it was last expedition man to the telescope, because these missions cannot be carried out by any other available spacecraft.
Shuttle Endeavor with open cargo bay.

In the 1990s, the shuttles took part in the joint Russian-American Mir - Space Shuttle program. Nine dockings were made with the Mir station.
During the twenty years that the shuttles were in service, they were constantly developed and modified. More than a thousand major and minor modifications were made to the original shuttle design.
Shuttles play very important role in the implementation of the project to create the International Space Station (ISS). For example, the ISS modules, from which it is assembled except for the Russian Zvezda module, do not have their own propulsion systems (PS), and therefore cannot independently maneuver in orbit to search for, rendezvous and dock with the station. Therefore, they cannot simply be “thrown” into orbit by ordinary Proton-type carriers. The only possibility of assembling stations from such modules is to use space shuttle type ships with their large cargo compartments or, hypothetically, to use orbital “tugs” that could find a module put into orbit by Proton, dock with it and bring it to the station for docking.
In fact, without shuttle-type spacecraft, the construction of modular orbital stations such as the ISS (from modules without remote control and navigation systems) would be impossible.
After the Columbia disaster, three shuttles remained in operation - Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor. These remaining shuttles should ensure the completion of the ISS before 2010. NASA announced the end of shuttle service in 2010.
The space shuttle Atlantis, on its last flight into orbit (STS-132), delivered the Russian research module Rassvet to the ISS.
Technical data


Solid propellant booster


External fuel tank

The tank contains fuel and oxidizer for the three liquid-propellant SSME (or RS-24) engines in orbit and does not have its own engines.
Inside, the fuel tank is divided into two sections. The upper third of the tank is occupied by a container designed for liquid oxygen cooled to a temperature of −183 °C (−298 °F). The volume of this container is 650 thousand liters (143 thousand gallons). The bottom two-thirds of the tank is designed to hold liquid hydrogen cooled to −253 °C (−423 °F). The volume of this container is 1.752 million liters (385 thousand gallons).


Orbiter

In addition to the three main engines of the orbiter, two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines, each with a thrust of 27 kN, are sometimes used at launch. The OMS fuel and oxidizer are stored on the shuttle for use in orbit and for return to Earth.



Space Shuttle Dimensions

Dimensions of the Space Shuttle compared to the Soyuz
Price
In 2006, total costs amounted to $160 billion, by which time 115 launches had been carried out (see: en:Space Shuttle program#Costs). The average cost for each flight was $1.3 billion, but the bulk of the costs (design, modernization, etc.) do not depend on the number of launches.
The cost of each shuttle flight is about $60 million. To support 22 shuttle flights from mid-2005 to 2010, NASA budgeted about $1 billion 300 million in direct costs.
For this money, the shuttle orbiter can deliver 20-25 tons of cargo in one flight to the ISS, including ISS modules, plus 7-8 astronauts.
Reduced in recent years almost to cost, the launch price of a Proton-M with a launch load of 22 tons is $25 million. Any separately flying spacecraft launched into orbit by a Proton-type carrier can have this weight.
Modules attached to the ISS cannot be launched into orbit by launch vehicles, since they must be delivered to the station and docked, which requires orbital maneuvering, which the orbital station modules themselves are incapable of. Maneuvering is carried out by orbital ships (in the future - orbital tugs), and not by launch vehicles.
Progress cargo ships supplying the ISS are launched into orbit by Soyuz-type carriers and are capable of delivering no more than 1.5 tons of cargo to the station. The cost of launching one Progress cargo ship on a Soyuz carrier is estimated at approximately $70 million, and to replace one shuttle flight, at least 15 Soyuz-Progress flights will be required, which in total exceeds a billion dollars.
However, after the completion of the orbital station, in the absence of the need to deliver new modules to the ISS, using shuttles with their huge cargo compartments becomes impractical.
On its last voyage, the Atlantis shuttle delivered to the ISS, in addition to the astronauts, “only” 8 tons of cargo, including a new Russian research module, new laptop computers, food, water and other consumables.
Photo gallery

Space Shuttle on the launch pad. Cape Canaveral, Florida

Landing of the shuttle Atlantis.

A NASA crawler transporter transports the space shuttle Discovery to the launch pad.

Soviet shuttle Buran

Shuttle in flight

Shuttle Endeavor landing

Shuttle on the launch pad

Video
The final landing of the shuttle Atlantis

Night launch Discovery

While space launches were rare, the issue of the cost of launch vehicles did not attract much attention. But as space exploration progressed, he began to acquire everything higher value. The cost of the launch vehicle in the total cost of launching a spacecraft varies. If the launch vehicle is serial and the spacecraft it launches is unique, the cost of the launch vehicle is about 10 percent of the total launch cost. If the spacecraft is serial and the carrier is unique - up to 40 percent or more. The high cost of space transportation is explained by the fact that the launch vehicle is used only once. Satellites and space stations operate in orbit or in interplanetary space, bringing a certain scientific or economic result, and rocket stages, which have a complex design and expensive equipment, burn up in dense layers of the atmosphere. Naturally, the question arose about reducing the cost of space launches by re-launching launch vehicles.

There are many projects of such systems. One of them is a space plane. This is a winged machine that, like an airliner, would take off from a cosmodrome and, having delivered a payload into orbit (satellite or spacecraft), would return to Earth. But it is not yet possible to create such an aircraft, mainly due to the required ratio of payload masses and total weight cars. Many other designs for reusable aircraft also turned out to be economically unprofitable or difficult to implement.

Nevertheless, the United States nevertheless set a course towards creating a reusable spacecraft. Many experts were against such an expensive project. But the Pentagon supported him.

The development of the Space Shuttle system began in the United States in 1972. It was based on the concept of a reusable spacecraft designed for launch into near-Earth orbits artificial satellites and other objects. Space aircraft The Shuttle consists of a manned orbital stage, two solid rocket boosters, and a large fuel tank located between the boosters.

The Shuttle launches vertically with the help of two solid rocket boosters (each 3.7 meters in diameter), as well as liquid orbital rocket engines, which are fed by fuel (liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen) from a large fuel tank. Solid propellant boosters operate only in the initial part of the trajectory. Their operating time is just over two minutes. At an altitude of 70-90 kilometers, the boosters are separated, parachuted into the water, into the ocean, and towed to the shore, so that after restoration and recharging with fuel they can be used again. When entering orbit, the fuel tank (8.5 meters in diameter and 47 meters long) is jettisoned and burns in the dense layers of the atmosphere.

The most complex element of the complex is the orbital stage. It resembles a rocket plane with a delta wing. In addition to the engines, it houses the cockpit and cargo compartment. The orbital stage deorbits like a regular spacecraft and lands without thrust, only due to the lifting force of a swept wing of low aspect ratio. The wing allows the orbital stage to perform some maneuver both in range and heading and ultimately land on a special concrete runway. The landing speed of the stage is much higher than that of any fighter. - about 350 kilometers per hour. The orbital stage body must withstand temperatures of 1600 degrees Celsius. The thermal protection coating consists of 30,922 silicate tiles glued to the fuselage and tightly fitted to each other.

The Space Shuttle is a kind of compromise both technically and economically. The maximum payload delivered by the Shuttle into orbit is from 14.5 to 29.5 tons, and its launch weight is 2000 tons, that is, the payload is only 0.8-1.5 percent of the total mass of the fueled spacecraft. At the same time, this figure for a conventional rocket with the same payload is 2-4 percent. If we take as an indicator the ratio of the payload to the weight of the structure, without taking into account fuel, then the advantage in favor of a conventional rocket will increase even more. This is the price to pay for the opportunity to at least partially reuse spacecraft structures.

One of the creators of spaceships and stations, USSR pilot-cosmonaut, professor K.P. Feoktistov assesses the economic efficiency of the Shuttles this way: “Needless to say, create an economical transport system not easy. Some experts are also confused by the following about the Shuttle idea. According to economic calculations, it justifies itself with approximately 40 flights per year per sample. It turns out that in a year only one “plane”, in order to justify its construction, must launch about a thousand tons of various cargo into orbit. On the other hand, there is a tendency to reduce the weight of spacecraft, increase their duration active life in orbit and, in general, to reduce the number of launched vehicles due to the solution of a set of tasks by each of them.”

From an efficiency point of view, the creation of a reusable transport ship with such a large payload capacity is premature. It is much more profitable to supply orbital stations with the help of automatic transport ships of the Progress type. Today, the cost of one kilogram of cargo launched into space by the Shuttle is $25,000, and by Proton - $5,000.

Without direct support from the Pentagon, the project would hardly have been brought to the stage of flight experiments. At the very beginning of the project, a committee on the use of the Shuttle was established at the headquarters of the US Air Force. It was decided to build a launch pad for the shuttle at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, from which military spacecraft are launched. Military customers planned to use the Shuttle to carry out a broad program of placing reconnaissance satellites in space, radar detection and targeting systems for combat missiles, for manned reconnaissance flights, creating space command posts, orbital platforms with laser weapons, for “inspection” of aliens in orbit space objects and delivering them to Earth. The Shuttle was also considered as one of the key links general program creation of space laser weapons.

Thus, already on the first flight, the crew of the Columbia spacecraft carried out a military mission related to testing the reliability of an aiming device for laser weapons. A laser placed in orbit must be accurately aimed at missiles hundreds and thousands of kilometers away from it.

Since the early 1980s, the US Air Force has been preparing a series of unclassified experiments in polar orbit with the goal of developing advanced equipment for tracking objects moving in air and airless space.

The Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986 made adjustments to further development US space programs. Challenger went on its last flight, paralyzing the entire American space program. While the Shuttles were laid up, NASA's cooperation with the Department of Defense was in doubt. The Air Force has effectively disbanded its astronaut corps. The composition of the military-scientific mission, which received the name STS-39 and was moved to Cape Canaveral, also changed.

The dates for the next flight were repeatedly pushed back. The program was resumed only in 1990. Since then, the Shuttles have regularly made space flights. They participated in the repair of the Hubble telescope, flights to the Mir station, and construction of the ISS.

By the time the Shuttle flights resumed in the USSR, a reusable ship was already ready, which in many ways surpassed the American one. On November 15, 1988, the new Energia launch vehicle launched the Buran reusable spacecraft into low-Earth orbit. Having made two orbits around the Earth, guided by miracle machines, it landed beautifully on the concrete landing strip of Baikonur, like an Aeroflot airliner.

Launch vehicle "Energia" is the base rocket of an entire system of launch vehicles formed by a combination different quantities unified modular stages and capable of launching vehicles weighing from 10 to hundreds of tons into space! Its basis, the core, is the second stage. Its height is 60 meters, diameter is about 8 meters. It has four liquid rocket engines running on hydrogen (fuel) and oxygen (oxidizer). The thrust of each such engine at the surface of the Earth is 1480 kN. Around the second stage, at its base, four blocks are docked in pairs, forming the first stage of the launch vehicle. Each block is equipped with the world's most powerful four-chamber engine RD-170 with a thrust of 7400 kN at the Earth.

The “package” of blocks of the first and second stages forms a powerful, heavy launch vehicle with a launch weight of up to 2400 tons, carrying a payload of 100 tons.

"Buran" has a great external resemblance to the American "Shuttle". The ship is built according to the design of a tailless aircraft with a delta wing of variable sweep, has aerodynamic controls that operate during landing after returning to the dense layers of the atmosphere, the rudder and elevons. It was capable of making a controlled descent in the atmosphere with a lateral maneuver of up to 2000 kilometers.

The length of the Buran is 36.4 meters, the wingspan is about 24 meters, the height of the ship on the chassis is more than 16 meters. The launch weight of the ship is more than 100 tons, of which 14 tons are fuel. A sealed all-welded cabin for the crew and most of the equipment to ensure flight as part of the rocket and space complex, autonomous flight in orbit, descent and landing is inserted into the bow compartment. The cabin volume is more than 70 cubic meters.

When returning to the dense layers of the atmosphere, the most heat-stressed areas of the ship's surface heat up to 1600 degrees, while the heat reaching directly to the metal structure of the ship should not exceed 150 degrees. Therefore, “Buran” was distinguished by powerful thermal protection, which ensured normal temperature conditions for the ship’s structure when passing through dense layers of the atmosphere during landing.

The thermal protective coating of more than 38 thousand tiles is made of special materials: quartz fiber, high-temperature organic fibers, partly carbon-based material. Ceramic armor has the ability to accumulate heat without transmitting it to the ship's hull. The total weight of this armor was about 9 tons.

The length of the Buran's cargo compartment is about 18 meters. Its spacious cargo compartment could accommodate a payload weighing up to 30 tons. It was possible to place large-sized spacecraft there - large satellites, blocks of orbital stations. The ship's landing weight is 82 tons.

"Buran" was equipped with all necessary systems and equipment for both automatic and manned flight. These include navigation and control equipment, radio and television systems, and automatic control devices. thermal regime, and the crew’s life support system, and much, much more.

The main propulsion system, two groups of engines for maneuvering, are located at the end of the tail section and in the front of the hull.

Buran was a response to the American military space program. Therefore, after the warming of relations with the United States, the fate of the ship was predetermined.

What is a shuttle? This is a flying design of American manufacturers. The word "shuttle" itself means "shuttle". Designed for repeated launches, the shuttles were originally intended to fly back and forth between Earth and its orbit to deliver cargo.

The article will be devoted to shuttles - spacecraft, as well as all other shuttles that exist today.

History of creation

Before answering the question of what a shuttle is, let's consider the history of its creation. It begins in the late 60s of the 20th century in the USA, when the question of designing a reusable space mechanism was raised. This was due to economic benefits. Intensive use of the space shuttle was supposed to reduce the high costs of space.

The concept provided for the formation of an orbital point on the Moon, and missions in Earth orbit were to be carried out by reusable vessels called the Space Shuttle.

In 1972, documents were signed that determined the appearance of the future shuttle.

The design program has been prepared by North American Rockwell on behalf of NASA since 1971. During the development of the program, technological ideas from the Apollo system were used. Five shuttles were designed, two of which did not survive the crashes. Flights were carried out from 1981 to 2011.

According to NASA plans, 24 launches were to be carried out annually, and each board was to perform up to 100 flights. But during the work, only 135 launches were completed. The Discovery shuttle distinguished itself by the largest number of flights.

System design

Let's look at what a shuttle is from the point of view of its design. It is launched via a pair of rocket boosters and three engines supplied with fuel from an impressively sized external tank.

Maneuvers in orbit are performed using engines of a special system designed for orbital maneuvers. This system includes the following steps:

• Two rocket boosters that operate for two minutes from the moment they are turned on. They give direction to the ship, then detach from it and fly into the ocean using parachutes. After refueling, the boosters are put back into operation.
• Refueling tank with hydrogen and oxygen supply for main engines. The tank is also thrown away, but a little later - after 8.5 minutes. Almost all of it burns in the atmosphere, and its fragments end up in the oceanic space.
• A manned vessel that lands in orbit and houses the crew and assists in scientific research. Having completed the program, the orbital vehicle flies to Earth and lands like a glider on the area allocated for landing.

Externally, the shuttle looks like an airplane, but, in fact, it is a heavy glider. The shuttle has no fuel reserves for its engines. The engines operate while the shuttle is connected to the fuel tank. While in space, as well as during landing, the ship uses not very powerful small engines. It was planned to equip the shuttle with jet engines, but the idea was abandoned due to the high cost.

The lifting force of the ship is low, landing occurs thanks to kinetic energy. The ship goes from orbit to the cosmodrome. That is, he only has one chance to land. Unfortunately, there is no opportunity to turn around and make a second circle. For this reason, NASA has built several reserve sites for landing aircraft.

Operating principles of accelerators

Side boosters are large, super-powerful solid-propellant devices that produce thrust to lift the shuttle away from the launch area and fly to an altitude of 46 km. Accelerator dimensions:

• 45.5 m long;
• 3.7 m - diameter;
• 580 thousand kg - mass.

It is not possible to stop the boosters after starting, so they are turned on after the other three engines start properly. 75 seconds after launch, the boosters separate from the system, fly by inertia, and reach maximum height, then land in the ocean using parachutes at a distance of approximately 226 km from the launch. In this case, the landing speed is 23 m/s. Technical service specialists collect the accelerators and send them to the manufacturing plant, where they are refurbished for reuse. The repair and reconstruction of the shuttles are also explained by economic considerations, because to create new ship much more expensive.

Functions performed

According to the military’s requirements, the aircraft was supposed to deliver cargo up to 30 tons, and deliver cargo up to 14.5 tons to Earth. For this, the cargo compartment had to have dimensions of 18 meters in length and 4.5 m in diameter.

The space program did not set as its goal “bomber” operations. Neither NASA, nor the Pentagon, nor the US Congress confirm such information. The Dyna-Soar project was developed for bombing purposes. However, over time, intelligence activities were carried out within the framework of the project. Gradually, Dyna-Soar became a research project, and in 1963 it was completely canceled. Many of Dyna-Soar's results carried over into the shuttle project.

The shuttles delivered cargo to altitudes of 200-500 km, they carried out many scientific developments, serviced spacecraft at orbital points, and were engaged in assembly and restoration work. The shuttles carried out flights to repair telescopic equipment.

In the 90s, the shuttles participated in the Mir-Shuttle program, conducted jointly by Russia and the United States. Nine dockings with the Mir station were carried out.

The design of the shuttles was constantly improved. Over the entire period of use of ships, thousands of devices have been developed.

The shuttles helped in the implementation of the formation project. Many modules on the ISS were delivered using the shuttles. Some of these modules are not equipped with engines, and therefore are not capable of autonomous movement and maneuvering. To deliver them to the station, you need a cargo ship or shuttle. The role of the shuttles in this direction cannot be overestimated.

Some interesting data

The average stay of a spacecraft in space is two weeks. The shortest flight was carried out by the Columbia shuttle, it lasted a little longer than two days. The longest voyage of the Columbia ship was 17 days.

The crew consists of two to eight astronauts, including a pilot and commander. The shuttle orbits ranged from 185,643 km.

The Space Shuttle program was canceled in 2011. It existed for 30 years. Over the entire period of its operation, 135 flights were made. The shuttles covered 872 million km and lifted cargo total mass 1.6 thousand tons. 355 astronauts visited orbit. The cost of one flight was approximately $450 million. The total cost of the entire program was $160 billion.

The last launch was the launch of Atlantis. In it, the crew was reduced to four people.

As a result of the project, all shuttles were canceled and sent to a museum storage facility.

Disasters

Space shuttles have suffered only two disasters in their entire history.

In 1986, the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch. The cause was an accident in a solid fuel accelerator. The entire crew died - seven people. The wreckage of the shuttle burned up in the atmosphere. Following the crash, the program was suspended for 32 months.

In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia burned down. The cause was the destruction of the ship's heat-protective shell. The entire crew died - seven people.

The Soviet leadership closely monitored the process of implementing the program to create and implement the American space shuttles. This project was perceived as a threat from the United States. It has been suggested that:

• shuttles can be used as platforms for nuclear weapons;
• American shuttles can steal satellites from Earth orbit Soviet Union.

As a result, the Soviet government decided to build its own space mechanism, with parameters not inferior to the American one.

In addition to the Soviet Union, many countries, following the United States, began to design their own multiple spacecraft. These are Germany, France, Japan, China.

Following the American ship, the Buran shuttle was created in the Soviet Union. It was intended to perform military and peaceful tasks.

At first, the ship was conceived as an exact copy of the American invention. But some difficulties arose during the development process, so Soviet designers had to look own solutions. One of the obstacles was the lack of engines similar to the American ones. More precisely, in the USSR, engines had completely different technical parameters.

The Buran flight took place in 1988. This happened under the control of the on-board computer. The landing of the shuttle determined the success of the flight, which many high-ranking officials did not believe in. The fundamental difference between the Buran and the American shuttles was that the Soviet counterpart was able to land on its own. American ships did not have such an opportunity.

Design Features

"Buran" had an impressive size, like its overseas counterparts. The cabin accommodated ten people.

An important design feature was the heat-protective shell, the weight of which was over 7 tons.

The spacious cargo compartment could accommodate large cargo, including space satellites.

The launch of the ship was a two-stage process. First, four missiles and engines were separated from the ship. The second stage is engines with oxygen and hydrogen.

When creating Buran, one of the main requirements was its reusability. Only the fuel tank was disposable. American boosters had the opportunity to splash down in the ocean. Soviet accelerators landed in the steppes near Baikonur, so their secondary use was not possible.

The second feature of the Buran was that the engines were located on the fuel tank and therefore burned out in the air. The designers were faced with the task of making the engines reusable, which could reduce the cost of the space exploration program.

If you look at the shuttle (the photo shows it) and its Soviet counterpart, you get the impression that these ships are identical. But this is only an external similarity with the fundamental internal differences between the two systems.

So, we looked at what a shuttle is. But these days, this word refers not only to ships for extraterrestrial flights. The idea of ​​the shuttle was embodied in many inventions of science and technology.

Car-ship

Honda released a car called the Shuttle. It was originally produced for the USA and given the name Odyssey. This free car was a success in the New World due to its excellent technical parameters.

The Honda Shuttle was released directly for Europe. At first, this was the name given to the Honda Civic station wagon, which resembled a microvan. But in 1991 it was removed from a number of produced modifications. The name "Shuttle" remained unclaimed. And only in 1994, Japanese machine builders released a new minivan with that name. Why the manufacturers decided to settle on such a model name, one can only guess. Perhaps the idea of ​​a fast space shuttle struck the car creators, and they wanted to create a unique fast car.

The Shuttle is a 5-door station wagon with high cross-country ability. The body has rounded corners, most of the surface is glazed. The salon is distinguished by the possibility of transformation. The seats are arranged in three rows, the last one is retracted into a niche. The cabin has air conditioning, comfortable seats with plenty of space.

The car is extremely comfortable while driving thanks to the energy-intensive front and rear suspension. The Shuttle successfully copes with the tasks assigned on the road. However, there were no more deliveries of this model to Europe; its place was taken by the Honda Stream.

Developing in 2011, it begins production of the Fit Shuttle line. The line is based on the Honda Fit hatchback.

The car has a 1.5 liter unit and a 1.3 liter hybrid. Both front- and rear-wheel drive vehicles are produced.

The Honda Fit Shuttle is characterized as an economical, spacious, ergonomic and comfortable car on the road. The car drives great on the streets of big cities. It is suitable for family holidays and for business.

"Honda Fit Shuttle" is equipped with the most high requirements security. It contains airbags, ABS, ESP.

"Fit Shuttle" is still very popular among car owners and has the highest ratings.

Together with children

You can take a flight on the star shuttle with your child by turning on the image and purchasing a Lego toy. The first space-themed set was released by the company back in 1973. It was a game in the form of a constructor. Since then, several series of “space” sets have been produced, belonging to different price levels.

The popular set with article number 60078 includes:

• service shuttle;
• space satellite;
• astronaut figures;
• stickers;
• assembly information.

The packaging depicts a spaceship, astronauts, planet Earth and its satellite - the Moon. In Lego, the shuttle is the main element of the set. It is made of white parts with dark inserts and bright red stripes. Its cabin can accommodate two astronaut figures. There are two of them in the set - a man and a woman. In the ship they sit next to each other. To get into the cabin, you need to remove its top part.

The Lego Shuttle set has become the desired embodiment of the dreams of everyone who dreams of ideas space wars. Its main component is not a fictional ship, but a completely realistic one. The space shuttle collects positive reviews about itself; it strongly resembles the original American ships, plowed the expanses of space. With this unique set, you can plunge into the world of space travel and flights together with your child. Moreover, you can play not only with boys, but also with girls, because it’s not for nothing that the set includes a female astronaut figure.

Stolen ship

The Lego company also created the Tydirium shuttle, which reminds us of numerous episodes of Star Wars. In total, the company has produced six such ships since 2001. They all differ in size.

The Imperial shuttle was stolen by the rebels, and now it is necessary to return it. Exciting adventures with the heroes of star travel await little players.

The set includes minifigures: Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Rebels - 2 pcs. The shuttle itself is made in white with gray inserts. The cockpit fits two figures and opens through the top of the nose. There is a cargo compartment behind the cab. Manufacturers say the shuttle assembly process could take 2 to 6 hours. With the help of minifigures, you can play out many exciting scenes.

Space games for computer

Bethesda, inspired by the idea of ​​exploring outer space, released the game Prey for consoles and computers with an interesting plot. It is based on a non-existent reality in which American President John Kennedy remained alive after the assassination attempt and began to intensively develop space exploration projects.

Aliens from outer space are attacking planet Earth. They are called typhons. The USA and USSR are joining forces in the fight against enemy forces. But the USSR is collapsing, and only the United States has to eliminate the Typhons. Scientists can control the brains of aliens and also gain their abilities.

One of the missions of the game is to get on the shuttle. For many this is a real problem.

Experienced players have conquered the shuttle in Prey and are giving advice to newcomers. In order to climb onto the ship, you need to go down to one of the lower rooms and find the key card there. The key helps you open the door and find the elevator. You need to go up the elevator, find a terminal there, which is activated, after which a bridge appears. Using the bridge they get on the shuttle.

Bus options

Nowadays, shuttles are called not only spaceships in reality and in games, but also bus transport. As a rule, these are fast buses that deliver passengers from the airport to the hotel, to the metro station, or vice versa. It can also be corporate transport that transports passengers to various events. The shuttle schedule is prepared in advance. As a rule, they run quite frequently, which is extremely convenient.

So, we analyzed the ambiguous word “shuttle”, looked at all the areas in which it is used, and also gave fascinating stories related to space shuttles.