Space
Transportation System
- Space
Shuttle Program
- The overall shuttle
program is called the Space Transportation System. NASA oversees
the program and coordinates flight requirements for all shuttle
missions.
Space Shuttle Requirements
- A high-level overview
of the shuttle's requirements includes basic specifications and
mission profile.
Launch Sites
- Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is the sole shuttle launch site. However, the Shuttle
Reference Manual, last revised in 1988, includes plans for western
test range satellite deployment missions from Vandenburg Air Force
Base in California.
Background and Status
- A high-level chronological
overview of program milestones from 1972 to 1987.
Mission Profile
- An overview of launch,
orbit, and entry profiles is detailed here, including airspeed,
altitude, and vehicle attitude requirements.
Aborts
- If a problem occurs
in the first eight minutes after liftoff, one of five different
abort modes may be used.
- Intact
Aborts
- There are four types
of intact aborts:
- Abort
To Orbit
- Designed to
allow the vehicle to achieve a temporary orbit that is
lower than the nominal orbit.
- Abort
Once Around
- Designed to
allow the vehicle to fly once around the Earth and make
a normal entry and landing.
- Transatlantic
Landing
- Designed to
permit an intact landing on the other side of the Atlantic
Ocean.
- Return
to Launch Site
- Involves flying
downrange to dissipate propellant and then turning around
under power to return directly to a landing at or near
the launch site.
- Contingency
Abort
- Maintains orbiter
integrity for in-flight crew escape if a landing cannot be
achieved at a suitable landing field.
Orbiter Ground Turnaround
- After landing, the orbiter
undergoes postflight processing to secure its systems, recover
payloads and experiments, and prepare it for its next mission.
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