RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Gloucestershire. During the Shuttle’s many years of service, Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site in the UK. Its runway is sufficiently long for a shuttle landing (3,045 m (9,990 ft)), and it also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the airfield.

While being an RAF station, Fairford hosts USAF personnel. Since 2019, the base has played host to a Lockheed U-2S Dragon Lady detachment. It is the USAF's only European airfield for heavy bombers and plays host to the Royal International Air Tattoo (or RIAT), the largest military airshow in the world.

The second photo shows the 747 SCA, carrying Enterprise, landed at Fairford before heading off to the 1983 Paris Air Show

Currently, there’s no user flairs in the sub. That’s why I’m suggesting that we add flairs with the name of each Shuttle (Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, (edit: forgot Discovery lmfao), Atlantis and Endeavour) and mockups (Pathfinder, Independence, Inspiration, etc) or even have some of the missions as flairs? I’d be happy with stuff like that and I’m sure there’s a lot of people here who would be too.

If anybody’s read this far, thank you

... & maybe further precise details of its motion?

Upon Gargoyle — Search the most prominent item is

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Velocity and Acceleration Profiles of Space Shuttles

by

Kwan-Jie Lee & Alex Gale & Lucas Minet & Angela Lee

https://openwa.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/21/2021/06/Velocity-and-Acceleration-Profiles-of-Space-Shuttles_Kwan-Jie-Lee.pdf

¡¡ may download without prompting – PDF document – 1·28㎆ !!

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... but the quartic equation, that is claimed, in the document, to be a good polynomial fit to the altitude-versus-time function makes no sense whatsoever !! Why is the constant coëfficient (height @ t=0 , in whatever units are being used) -2475·799324 ; & why is the coëfficient of t (the initial speed, in whatever units are being used) not 0 !? Basically it makes no sense whatsoever . A screenshot of the page with the equation on it is the first in the sequence of images attached.

And another item that appears not far down the list is

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SPACE SHUTTLE ASCENT

by

Texas Instruments

https://education.ti.com/-/media/4113B908B22F4F5085BE8319260A02B0

¡¡ may download without prompting – PDF document – 367·48㎅ !!

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in which the table shown as the second in the sequence of herein-posted images is found, & which does seem to make sense (although the time incrementation is rather coarse) ... but it has the same preposterous quartic equation on page 9 : likely it's just been quoted from the first of the above-mentioned documents.

And I just cannot find anything that does make sense & is suitable for being taken as definitive ... preferably something by NASA themselves ... so I wonder whether someone here might be able to signpost to something.

I have a recollection of reading somewhere that it was probably the nose-cone of the starboard booster lurching from its proper place, visibly through the cockpit window. But I haven't refound the article; & in-general there seems not to be very much discussion around as to exactly what very particular thing it was that prompted him, @ that juncture, to express alarm.

I have come up with a new idea for a second generation of space shuttle travel. It's called the Space Shuttle Transport.

What makes this different than the original?

First off, the External Fuel Tank is taller for more fuel space, and there is a third SRB on the back of the ET across from the Shuttle on the opposite side. The SRBs are also larger.

The Shuttle itself, The shuttle is longer and wider and has a more reinforced nose and window sheild. It's cargo hold in the middle is deeper and has a garage door type opening on one wall for easy loading and it also has the top doors for opening in space, the space crane inside the shuttle has 6 ball joints that can move in almost any direction, and are spaced each 3 meters apart, and you can control the crane from inside the crew cabin.

The Crew Cabin. There is more working room inside the cabin for extra passenger room, that can fit 9 people in total, 5 up top and 4 on the 2nd 1st floor. In the first floor there are 8 beds (it's designed this way so there is always someone awake) on the 1st floor there is an air lock so astronauts can do EVA whilst on the mission. There is also storage in ground compartments and wall compartments for whatever is needed. There is also a mini kitchen area where there is bags of food and beverage to be stored or made. On the 2nd floor is where the flight controls are for take off and re-entry, where there are two commander seats and one co commander seat, any one of them can press the eject button, if needed during takeoff separating the shuttle from the ET and SRBs. There is a foldable wall located on the 2nd floor that can be used in two ways (we will get to that in the next section) there are also ladders in the floor that can be used if needed to crawl into each passengers launch chair, every chair except the Commander chairs and Co Commander chair, can be folded and put away. There is also the crane operator panel on the 2nd floor in the back next to the ladders that go better the first and second floors.

How the Shuttle Works. The Shuttle would launch attached to the External Fuel Tank and SRBs, instead of using the shuttles 6 main engines two of which won't be used until later. Once it launches and clears the tower it goes into its roll program, where it lays it's wings on the proper alignment to travel, which also lays the SRBs on the proper alignment to separate. Once it goes the MAX Q it then gets about 3/4 out of the atmosphere and one of the SRBs separates and lands back down on earth to be used again, and since the shuttle has already aligned itself properly, it carries on with the same alignment. Then one it gets itself one mile out of earths main orbit the other two disengage, leaving the space shuttle floating out into space, but the 4 of the engines which are smaller then ignite pushing the shuttle further into space draining the fuel out of the External Fuel tank. Onece all the fuel is drained it separates and gets sent into the vast vacuum of space, from then on the shuttle is sent into the right direction to its direction. A planet. Prior to the mission, NASA or which ever space agency this is from would have already scouted out a planet to land on and where to land on said planet. So commanders land the shuttle at the desired point. This is where the astronauts can study the planet and find out basics on the planets habitat and resources. And once they are done, they all get back into their gear and they take off from the planet. The two larger engines are in the shape of a triangle and the main tip is pointing each other. They both work on the guild system as the others do. And it sends the astronauts back into earths direction. Where once they get back they decide which specifically designed runway to land at while they wait at the Earth Port Space Station (that's a story for another time) then once they get prepared and the ground crews are ready, they use the last little bit of fuel they have in two smaller boosters like the original space shuttle and it pushes them into orbit and they would successfully land at that runway. The methods of getting back home are the same, they strap the shuttle to a plane and fly it back home to its maintenance buildings where it is prepared and readied for the next mission.

If there are any questions ask below, and if you want drawings I will draw them and post them

[EDIT] I forgot to mention, there are two entry doors into the cabin, and they can be used either with the shuttle standing up where the astronauts can enter it or sitting on the ground as if it were about to take off

Sorry for the bad quality

Presentation film titled “Challenger STS-6” was created by NASA in 1983. It's not clear who narrates the film, but it appears to be one of the astronauts aboard the mission (or possibly someone at Mission Control). The STS-6 mission was manned by a four-person astronaut crew consisting of Paul J. Weitz, Karol J. Bobko, F. Story Musgrave, and Donald H. Peterson. STS-6 was the sixth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 4, 1983. The mission deployed the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-1, into orbit, before landing at Edwards Air Force Base on April 9, 1983. STS-6 was also the first Space Shuttle mission during which an Extravehicular activity was conducted.

NASA Image ID: 9252073

Original NASA Caption: The Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-45) roars into space in this photo showing a close-up of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the external tank. Atlantis' mission included experiments on the Atmospheric Lab for Applications and Sciences (ATLAS). ATLAS-1 measures long-term variability in the total energy radiated by the sun and determines the variability in the solar spectrum.

My personal favorite of all escape systems ever conceived by humanity: the tractor rocket!

Involves a rocket canister with solid propellant situated near the hatch, which an astronaut will attach to themself to escape the Orbiter in an emergency, after the crew compartment's pressure is equalized to the outside pressure.

Such a design ensures the astronaut clears the wing (and their stomach of recent meals!) Additionally, there was a proposal involving tractor rockets, where the front fuselage and crew compartment ceiling is jettisoned, and the rockets will eject the crewmembers.

Of course, keeping live solid propellant inside the Orbiter near a hatch is quite a dangerous idea, but I think it's neat.

You can read on various egress systems both on ground and in the air here:

https://www.nasa.gov/history/rogersrep/v6ch6.htm

And you can watch a video on the bailout pole and tractor rocket here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5t3G6LviK0

If I recall correctly, the winner in a 'competition' between different escape options, one of which including a 'rocket ejection' system involving attachable rockets to be used via escape from the side hatch, which I intend to cover in a different post.

Sadly, such escape systems only came after Challenger. Prior to this, they lacked even parachutes..

Famously the only abort (excluding RSLS) in Shuttle history!

6th August 1985

I had a little bit of curiosity on the Shuttle IPS and managed to find four photographs of what is the control panel for the IPS, situated on panel R12.

Unusually, the panel changes significantly from image 1 (STS-35), image 2 (STS-51F) and images 4&3 (STS-67) I have circled the one for STS-67 in white, I'd like to raise that one first.

On both 35 and 67 they carried the Astro observatory, however on 35 panel R12 has a CRT display and on 67 it lacks one. Furthermore it looks as if the panel R12 for STS-67 is not even complete, as it is partially grey and lacking the knobs, keyboard and switches present on STS-35. If anyone knows why I would be greatly interested.

On STS-51F, not only are the knobs different, but it lacks a keyboard like STS-67. Aside from that it looks to be a complete panel.

If anyone knows the answer as to why all 3 are distinct when 2 of them possess identical instruments/experiments (IPS and Astro observatory) and why the panel on 51F is also quite different I would be interested. Links to images/figures are also welcome.

According to 'Flight Procedures Handbook - Ascent/Aborts (OI-30)' Once in MM304 during a high-energy TAL, the commander would take manual control and bank to the required roll and pitch.

On the page after, it shows a figure and my goodness! Manually maneuvering to a roll angle of 180 degrees and 50 or 80 degrees pitch while high on energy during atmospheric entry is absolutely insane.

I know too little of this abort to speak in detail of this for now but, this type of TAL should be given a little bit more recognition and definitely up there with RTLS.

PlaneTags released this yesterday, did anyone else see this? It is from the California Science Center exhibit.