tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
nice crosswind landing just a few minutes ago. i love the view from the HUD. what a lousy glider.
shuttle lands
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tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
when you glide at 3:1 you dont need airbrakes.
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
*phew!*
So who do you think had more adrenaline going through the re-entry - The astronauts aboard the shuttle, or the engineers who said it'd be OK?
So who do you think had more adrenaline going through the re-entry - The astronauts aboard the shuttle, or the engineers who said it'd be OK?
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
i talked with my thermal engineer buddy at NASA shortly after launch when CNN was going nuts. he told me then that a) teachers should not be allowed in space 
and b) that reentry would be no problem. i doubt the engineers were getting too excited, perhaps save the ones who get wound up any time the thing flies.
my buddy did recommend that they should start a "rising engineer in space" instead of the "teacher in space" program, to which he would courageously volunteer to be the first member of.
and b) that reentry would be no problem. i doubt the engineers were getting too excited, perhaps save the ones who get wound up any time the thing flies.my buddy did recommend that they should start a "rising engineer in space" instead of the "teacher in space" program, to which he would courageously volunteer to be the first member of.
Steve
En-Route
Be interesting to see whats at the bottom of that hole in the wing...
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
heh looks like the damaged tile survived reentry with practically no more damage
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
Maybe not, but they do have 'em... Rather than being on the wings, the rudder splits open.
I'd sure be glad to have SOMETHING to fold up if it looked like I was gonna come up 100 feet short...
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
i dont think they use the rudder airbrakes on approach kent, pretty sure thats just for help slowing down after touchdown. suppose i could be wrong though. they fly a pretty controlled pattern and seem to always have the energy spot on for damn nice landings.
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
he told me then that a) teachers should not be allowed in space
Ah, but she's not a teacher any more... She's an astronaut, and has been a full-time astronaut since 1998. I think she's planning on going back to teaching now though...
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
K
KennyFlys
Guest
I don't know much about the shuttle but I'm betting the autopilot used for approach makes other commercial systems look like something from Fisher Price. At that speed, it has to be a very fast response with such minute corrections.
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
actually kenny, the commander does most of the flying on the approach. if you watch the view from the HUD though, its got a great flight director. even commands the Flare and everything.
couple years ago at our state soaring convention a guy from omaha spoke, who works on the team that trains the shuttle pilots to land using the gulfstream with reverse thrust. pretty damn cool stuff.
couple years ago at our state soaring convention a guy from omaha spoke, who works on the team that trains the shuttle pilots to land using the gulfstream with reverse thrust. pretty damn cool stuff.
K
KennyFlys
Guest
Wow, I wouldn't think thrust reflectors could stand up to that in flight. I'd love to see that.
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
it is highly modified to very accurately simulate the orbiter on approach. they never actually land the trainer, flaring at about 50 feet (height of the cockpit on the shuttle) then going around. the astronauts love it.
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/rtf_week5_sta.html
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/rtf_week5_sta.html
Steve
En-Route
From http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/events/regimes/space.html
At an altitude of approximately 30 miles, the orbiter makes a series of maneuvers and S-turns to slow its speed. At 9.5 miles in altitude and at a speed of Mach 1, the orbiter can be steered using its rudder. The on-board computers fly the orbiter until it goes subsonic (slower than the speed of sound: Mach 1). This happens about 4 minutes before landing. At this time the commander takes manual control of the orbiter and flies a wide arc approach. At 7.5 miles from the runway, the orbiter is flying about 424 miles per hour at an altitude of 13,365 feet. About 2 miles from the runway, the orbiter is flying at nearly 360 miles per hour on a glide slope of 22 degrees.
Once lined up with the runway on approach, the orbiter continues its steep glide slope of 18 - 20 degrees. The commander levels the descent angle at a final glide slope of 1.5 degrees by performing a ``flare maneuver''. The nose of the orbiter increases its pitch (noses up) which slows its speed. The orbiter touches down at a speed of about 215 miles per hour. It is slowed and eventually brought to a stop by the speed brake, wheel brakes and a drag chute.
From http://history.nasa.gov/SP-432/ch1.htm
At 520 meters (1700 ft) the pilot begins to flatten the glide to only 1.5 degrees, extends the speed brakes, and settles the ship for a landing.
From http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle7.htm
The speed brake actuators have 49.5 degrees of travel on the split halves.
At an altitude of approximately 30 miles, the orbiter makes a series of maneuvers and S-turns to slow its speed. At 9.5 miles in altitude and at a speed of Mach 1, the orbiter can be steered using its rudder. The on-board computers fly the orbiter until it goes subsonic (slower than the speed of sound: Mach 1). This happens about 4 minutes before landing. At this time the commander takes manual control of the orbiter and flies a wide arc approach. At 7.5 miles from the runway, the orbiter is flying about 424 miles per hour at an altitude of 13,365 feet. About 2 miles from the runway, the orbiter is flying at nearly 360 miles per hour on a glide slope of 22 degrees.
Once lined up with the runway on approach, the orbiter continues its steep glide slope of 18 - 20 degrees. The commander levels the descent angle at a final glide slope of 1.5 degrees by performing a ``flare maneuver''. The nose of the orbiter increases its pitch (noses up) which slows its speed. The orbiter touches down at a speed of about 215 miles per hour. It is slowed and eventually brought to a stop by the speed brake, wheel brakes and a drag chute.
From http://history.nasa.gov/SP-432/ch1.htm
At 520 meters (1700 ft) the pilot begins to flatten the glide to only 1.5 degrees, extends the speed brakes, and settles the ship for a landing.
From http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle7.htm
The speed brake actuators have 49.5 degrees of travel on the split halves.
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Steve
En-Route
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
I dunno about "most..."
IIRC, the approach was hand-flown start to finish exactly once. Even that might be just a rumor.
tonycondon
Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
ok according to steve the approach is hand flown below mach 1. i guess you have to get into definitions to decide when reentry ends and approach to landing begins
NC Pilot
Cleared for Takeoff
IIRC, the computers used to run the shuttle are based on 396 processors (the fastest processors commercially available at the time). Story is that the engineers at NASA regularly cruise Ebay to find replacement parts for the computers to keep them running.