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How is a Space Shuttle different from a conventional rocket?
The space shuttle launched like a rocket. But it landed like a glider airplane. The solid rocket boosters and the main engines on the orbiter helped the shuttle blast off from Earth like a rocket. The external tank dropped off the orbiter after it had used all the fuel in the tank.
What is the replacement for the space transportation system?
However, this also became politically unviable by 1993, and was replaced with the International Space Station (ISS), with substantial contribution by Russia. The ISS was completed in 2011.
What shape is the shuttle orbiter?
Together they provide the shuttle with the millions of pounds of thrust to overcome the earth’s gravitational pull. The orbiter is shaped much like an airplane. It has many of the same parts as an airplane except for its engine configurations.
How are space rockets controlled?
To control their flight, rockets rely on momentum, airfoils, auxiliary reaction engines, gimballed thrust, momentum wheels, deflection of the exhaust stream, propellant flow, spin, or gravity.
What did space shuttles do?
During its history, the space shuttle flew many different types of missions. It launched satellites and served as an orbiting science laboratory. Its crews repaired and improved other spacecraft, such as the Hubble Space Telescope. The shuttle also flew missions for the military.
Why did they stop using space shuttles?
While reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Columbia broke apart, killing the entire crew. All of these factors — high costs, slow turnaround, few customers, and a vehicle (and agency) that had major safety problems — combined to make the Bush administration realize it was time for the Space Shuttle Program to retire.
How do astronauts control the space shuttle?
In the space shuttle, astronauts are strapped in on their backs a few hours before launch. As the main engines light, the whole vehicle rumbles and strains to lift off the launch pad. When the solid rocket motors burn out there is a big flash of light as they separate from the big fuel tank the shuttle is strapped to.
How does the space shuttle steer in space?
With no air molecules to push on, you may wonder how the shuttle’s rockets keep it moving. So, the force created by the shuttle’s engines in expelling the burning fuel produces an equal thrust in the opposite direction. This thrust acts on the spacecraft and propels it along.
How is the space shuttle able to leave Earth’s surface?
The vehicle requires an enormous amount of fuel to break through Earth’s gravitational pull. All that fuel adds significant weight to the spacecraft, and when an object is heavier, it takes more thrust to lift it.
What is rocket control?
There are four major components to any full scale rocket; structural system or frame, the payload system, the guidance system, and the propulsion system. All of the control methods produce a torque about the rocket’s center of gravity which causes the rocket to rotate in flight.