Aug 30 2008
A Space Shuttle Primer
Baron Rochester asked me about Shuttle reusability. I gave him a quick answer, but, really, I think his question deserves a more complete answer because the Shuttle is a rather unique vehicle.
As the Apollo program came to an end (and you don’t want to ask me how I feel about that), much of the space focus turned to the highly lucrative but very expensive world of satellites. Up until then (and in fact, continuing on today), most space craft were launched into space using staged expendable rockets. From the beginning, an orbiting space station built with help from the Shuttle was part of the vision, but the US was also very interested in finding a more cost effective method for getting satellites into space and even bringing them back down. Additionally, they hoped to use the Shuttle as an orbiting laboratory for larger scale experiments than ever possible before. It cannot be stressed enough that, with the possible exception of being “cost effective,” the Space Shuttle system has achieved all of these far reaching goals.
The Space Shuttle is a complex system. It includes the reusable Orbiter, the refurbishable Solid Rocket Motors, and the expendable External Tank which supplies the fuel (cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen) for the Orbiter’s main engines. The Orbiter’s main engines are among the most efficient chemical engines ever.
There were a total of seven Orbiters built. The first one, Enterprise, was used for testing but never flew in space (sorry, Roddenberry).The other five were put into use as they were completed: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and, after Challenger was lost, Endeavour. We are down to three now, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.
Of course, I could talk more about the Orbiter, about their lightweight, but delicate thermal tiles and surfaces, some capable of withstanding nearly 3000 deg F (1650 Deg C), which are engineering marvels all their own, despite their vulnerabilities. But Kathleen asked a good question and I have to get to that.
Even so, I have to mention the two Orbiters we lost, with their full complements. The first, on January 28, 1986, was the Challenger accident when the Shuttle broke up 73 seconds into the launch due to a leak/burnthrough of the Solid Rocket Motor. We lost seven astronauts on that flight: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe (a teacher), Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik. I wasn’t here for that. I was a freshman in college and it’s still hard to believe that it happened more than 20 years ago.
Then, there was the loss of STS-107, Columbia, the oldest of our Orbiters during reentry. I was here for that one. In fact, it was my flight (EVA Safety Lead). Columbia was destroyed when damage to her wing leading edge lead to burnthrough and eventual destruction of Columbia on her way in. I knew this crew personally and I still can’t think of it without tears coming to my eyes. Those lost were David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool, another seven.
I did the math. I was in high school when the first one launched.
I heard about rather than saw Challenger. I was in class in college.
Not to sound eery, but I’d dreamed about Columbia, exactly the same scene I saw on the TV stand, for six years before Columbia. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I haven’t been revisited by that dream again. I hope that bodes well for the remaining flights.
I was in tenth grade, watching the shuttle launch with a friend in the library during lunch (hated the lunch room–I preferred to starve)…and we both saw it crash live.
Really terrible stuff.
You caught me. I cry for the Challenger accident, too. There is a very well done video by NASA that tells a great deal about the accident. It’s like 14 minutes long and it’s very hard for me to watch, but it is amazing to me how much they know about the accident, how many pieces were retrieved, how we could have prevented it.
As a safety person, I always need to understand these tragedies because I’m passionate about keeping them from happening again. But it’s tough. In fact, later this week, I’ll put up links to a great website for finding out more about space related accidents. Many people might find Wikipedia contemptible because anyone can change the data, but I’ve found them excellent at all things space because (a) they clearly have space professionals involved and (b) there is a lot of documentation readily available.
Necessary, but not necessarily fun. As a strange coincidence, all of NASA’s loss of life accidents involving astronauts: Apollo 1 fire, Challenger, Columbia, happened within one calendar week, the end of January, beginning of February. It’s a tough week for those of us in the space industry.
Just click “video” in the former comment. I’m not sure what’s up with the html. It might be flaky because I use Firefox.