Certain spacecraft have become true symbols of space exploration: the small Soviet satellite sputnik, the first Earth-made object to enter orbit around our planet; the huge American rocket Saturn V, which took people to the moon; and that spaceship from NASA, with its distinctive launch profile that represented a great, only partially fulfilled, promise to lead humanity into the future of space travel. Today we discover his story, his successes and his failures.
The design of the shuttle
With the'Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 the Space race it essentially ended in victory for the United States. Subsequent lunar missions of the Apollo program had attracted less and less public interest, and the final mission, theApollo 17 In 1972 it closed almost silently. NASA faced a significant problem Reduction in fundingand had already started developing the next programs and trying to understand how reduce costs Missions and improve launch efficiency.
One of Expense items The most important thing about space launches was that the launch vehicles could be used to put the capsules and satellites into orbit once. As early as 1966, NASA realized that the best solution to optimize costs was to develop a reusable starting system. So the idea was to build one means of transport real that it could carry the payload into space, re-enter the atmosphere, land and be ready for a new launch with refueling and minimal maintenance.
Studies on carrier aircraft what aviation had achieved since the 1950s: they were aircraft without wings or with wings much smaller than those of today's aircraft and thanks to which they could fly aerodynamic power created not by the wings, but by the shape of their fuselage itself (the “body” of the aircraft). The result of this integration will be very clearly seen in the form of the shuttle designed for atmospheric re-entry.
This is how the project that I will become was born Space transportation systemgenerally speaking spaceship (literally “space shuttle”). After examining various alternative solutions, a final design is created partially reusable consisting of a Orbiters (the real reusable “spaceship”), equipped with powerful engines for departure and an aerodynamic body for reentry, a large one external tank Starting fuel (not reusable) and two Booster, Solid rocket rockets that provide additional thrust in the initial phase of launch (not reusable).
The 5 Space Shuttles (+1)
THE First The shuttle, completed in 1977, was a test model: it never flew into space, but was put into flight by one Boeing 747 to test the orbiter's maneuvering limits and landing capability. Originally it should have been called Constitutionbut a large letter-writing campaign organized by fans of the science fiction television series star hike led to the final choice of name Businessthe same as the series' spaceship protagonist.
Following the test model, four orbiters were put into production and launched into space in the 1980s, and a fifth was built and launched in the following decade.
- Colombia (1981)
- challenger (1983)
- discovery (1984)
- Atlantis (1985)
- effort (1992)
During its 30 years of operation until its completion in 2011, the Space Shuttle program achieved success 135 missions in space, for a sum of 1330 days in space (an average of 300 days for each orbiter) and in total 21,158 orbits around our planet. During the missions the shuttles transported 355 people In space (306 men And 49 women) Representative 16 nations. Five Italian astronauts flew on the shuttle: Franco Malerba (the first Italian astronaut in 1994), Maurizio Cheli (1996), Umberto Guidoni (1996 and 2001), Paolo Nespoli (2007), Roberto Vittori (2011). The last two Italian astronauts, Luca Parmitano and Samantha Cristoforetti, never flew aboard the shuttle.
Over the years, space shuttles have carried out an incredible number of activities, such as scientific experiments and satellite launches. The tasks for which they are most remembered are probably placement in orbit The Hubble Space Telescope, in 1990 and most of the construction of the International Space Stationfrom 1998 to 2011.
Unfortunately, the history of the space shuttle was marked by two serious events Accidents which led to the destruction of in various situations challenger (1986) and Colombia (in 2003), in both cases killing the seven astronauts aboard the vehicle.
The end of the space shuttle
Despite his great successes in the fields of science and technology and their Influence on imagination The space shuttle that continues to this day was the space shuttle unable to achieve its original goalthat is, reducing the cost of space launches to make orbit easierRoutine activities like airplane flights. The use of boosters and an external tank not reusable collided with the idea of maximum efficiency, and the complexity of the systems made that happen interview of the orbiter is a long and complicated matter.
These problems, combined with the safety concerns highlighted by the two disasters of challenger he was born Colombia, leads to growth discontent for the program, especially at the political and economic level, until the decision is made 2004 Remove the fleet and close the program. The last flight was carried out in 2011, and since then the baton has been passed to other programs Space Launch System used in missions Artemis from NASAand the series Falcon of the private company EspaceXwhich he will join Ships: The latter two embody, albeit in different configurations, the idea of a partially or fully reusable vehicle.
Of the 6 orbiters built, 4 remain and are still on display in various exhibition rooms: theBusiness (the test model) on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid converted into a headquartersMuseum of Sea, Air and Space in New York harbor; THE discovery At Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, Virginia; L'Atlantis At Kennedy Space Center, Florida; and finally theeffort At California Space Center in Los Angeles.