Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is the most amazing and complex machine ever built. Millions of people have been fascinated by it since it was introduced in 1972. Since I was old enough to realize what it was, the Space Shuttle has amazed me. I have always been fascinated by the fire flowing from its huge engines and boosters. The Space Shuttle is more than just a mode of transportation for astronauts to go into space. It is a symbol of pride in what America is capable of and how we are the most advanced country in the world.

I have always been very interested in the Space Shuttle I think that every boy has been fascinated at it at one time or another in his life. As a boy I had pictures of spaceships and the Space Shuttle all over the walls of my bedroom. I believe that it is every boy’s goal to become an astronaut. It is the ultimate job. To be able to get onto a machine and be carried into space, a place where there are so many unknowns. The Shuttle is also so intriguing because it is so advanced. It is the most spectacular machine built.

NASA began studying Shuttle concepts in the late 1960s and formally started the Space Shuttle Program in 1972. Marshall Space Flight Center was assigned responsibility for developing the Space Shuttle's main engines, external tank, reusable solid rocket motors, and solid rocket booster components. Most development and testing occurred during 1972-81. Work on design enhancements continues today. All the planning, building, and testing culminated on April 12, 1981, when Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on the first Shuttle mission. The perfect two-day mission demonstrated that the team's vision had opened a new era of space exploration. Since then more than 100 missions have been flown.

The orbiter is the main part of the Shuttle. It is the part that goes into orbit and has the three main engines. The most impressive thing about the orbiter to me are the main engines. The Space Shuttle main engines are the first rocket engines to be reused from one mission to the next. They are throttled during ascent, and the engines move - gimbal - to help steer the Shuttle. The engines use a two-stage combustion process. The fuel is pumped from the external tank and burned in two preburners. The hot gas from the preburners drives two high-pressure turbopumps one for liquid hydrogen (fuel) and one for liquid oxygen (oxidizer). The high-pressure pumps inject the fuel and oxidizer into the main combustion chamber, where the second stage of combustion occurs. The expansion of the hot gases through the chamber and the nozzle produces thrust. The resulting blue-white exhaust is mainly water vapor (super-hot steam).

The Shuttle is the first orbital spacecraft designed for partial reusability. It carries large payloads to various orbits, provides crew rotation for the International Space Station, and performs servicing missions. While the vehicle was designed with the capacity to recover satellites and other payloads from orbit and return them to Earth, this capacity has not been used often; it is, however, an important use of the Space Shuttle in the context of the ISS program, as only very small amounts of experimental material, hardware needing to be repaired, and trash can be returned by Soyuz. Each Shuttle was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or 10-years operational life. The Orbiter is both the brains