SPACE WALLPAPER: Space Shuttle During Re-Entry
This wallpaper is an artist’s concept of the Space Shuttle during re-entry.
This wallpaper is an artist’s concept of the Space Shuttle during re-entry.
The use of the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) pallet extends the space shuttle’s stay time onorbit to 16 days plus two weather days.
The EDO pallet holds a set of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks to provide additional fuel for the orbiter’s electrical power generation system, a regenerating system for removing carbon dioxide from the crew cabin atmosphere, two additional nitrogen tanks for cabin air, and an improved waste collection system.
(Above) The X-24B is seen here on the lakebed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California.
The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in Dryden’s Lifting Body program. Lifting bodies were wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an aircraft at a pre-determined site.
First to fly the X-24B was John Manke, conducting a glide flight on August 1, 1973. He was also the pilot on the first powered mission on November 15, 1973. Among the final flights with the X-24B were two precise landings on the main concrete runway at Edwards which showed that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. These missions were flown by Manke and Air Force Maj. Mike Love, and represented the final milestone in a program that helped write the flight plan for today’s Space Shuttle program.
The final powered flight with the X-24B was on September 23, l975. The pilot was Bill Dana, and it was also the last rocket-powered flight flown at Dryden. It was Dana who also flew the last X-15 mission about seven years earlier. Top speed reached with the X-24B was l,l64 mph (Mach l.76) by Love. The highest altitude reached was 74,100 feet, by Manke.
The information the lifting body program generated contributed to the data base that led to development of today’s Space Shuttle program. The X-24B is on public display at the Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
(Above) Three wingless lifting body aircraft sitting on Rogers Dry Lake at what is now NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. From left to right are the X-24A, M2-F3 and the HL-10.
The lifting body aircraft studied the feasibility of maneuvering and landing an aerodynamic craft designed for reentry from space. These lifting bodies were air launched by a B-52 mother ship, then flew powered by their own rocket engines before making an unpowered approach and landing.
They helped validate the concept that a space shuttle could make accurate landings without power. The X-24A flew from April 17, 1969 to June 4, 1971. The M2-F3 flew from June 2, 1970 until December 21, 1971. The HL-10 flew from December 22, 1966 until July 17, 1970, and logged the highest and fastest records in the lifting body program.
(Above) A KSC worker paints the NASA logo on the port wing of the orbiter Endeavour. The paint is a special pigment that takes 18 hours to dry; the whole process takes approximately two weeks to complete.
The NASA logo, termed “meatball,” was originally designed in the late 1950s. It symbolized NASA’s role in aeronautics and space in the early years of the agency. The original design included a white border surrounding it. The border was dropped for the Apollo 7 mission in October 1968, replaced with royal blue to match the background of the emblem.
In 1972 the logo was replaced by a simple and contemporary design the “worm” which was retired from use in the 1990′s. NASA reverted to its original logo in celebration of the agency’s 40th anniversary.
Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew landed at 11:39 a.m. EDT Sunday at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis’ astronauts conducted five successful spacewalks during their STS-125 flight to enhance and extend the life of the orbiting observatory.
(Above) STS-46 Commander Loren J. Shriver, with his mouth open, pursues several floating chocolate-covered peanut candies (M&Ms) on the aft flight deck of Atlantis.
(Above) President Bill Clinton samples some space food while visiting NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Holding the food packet is U.S. Senator and the first American to orbit the Earth John Glenn.
(Above) Food floats away on the Space Shuttle.
(Above) Russian Cosmonaut Cosmonaut Oleg V. Kotov, ISS Expedition 15 has fun with “fresh” fruit floating freely in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. The fruit was part of a delivery of food and supplies sent up via a Progress resupply craft.
(Above) Food floats freely on the International Space Station.
(Above) STS-26 Commander Frederick H. Hauck (center) reviews lengthy text and graphics system (TAGS) printout as it drifts across the middeck while his fellow crewmembers (left to right) Mission Specialist (MS) David C. Hilmers, MS George D. Nelson, and Pilot Richard O. Covey try to eat various snack items.
(Above) STS-45 Pilot Brian Duffy, positioned at the commanders station, wrestles with a text and graphics system (TAGS) printout on forward flight deck of Atlantis
Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew will stay in space another day after bad weather prevented them from landing Saturday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA Flight Director Norm Knight and the entry team will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy before permitting the shuttle to land. If the weather is not acceptable for a return to Kennedy, the team will look to land at the secondary landing site, Edwards Air Force Base in California. White Sands Space Harbor is not expected to be activated tomorrow.
Sunday Landing Opportunities (All Times Eastern)
10:11 a.m. Orbit 196 landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 8:58 a.m.)
11:40 a.m. Orbit 197 landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 10:25 a.m.)
11:49 a.m. Orbit 197 landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 10:31 a.m.)
1:19 p.m. Orbit 198 landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 12:08 p.m.)
Space Shuttle Enterprise sits on display next to America’s Moon rocket, the Saturn V.
