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The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. One (N905NA) is a 747-100 model, while the other (N911NA) is a short-range 747-100SR.
The X-37B was originally scheduled for launch in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle, but after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, it was transferred to a Delta II 7920. The X-37B was subsequently transferred to a shrouded configuration on the Atlas V rocket, due to concerns over the unshrouded spacecraft's aerodynamic properties during ...
Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on 12 April 1981 at Pad 39A for mission STS-1. The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
Had a TAL situation arisen during a launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Hao and Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean would have been the TAL sites, as would Andersen AFB, Guam with one of the longest concrete runways in the world. [19] [20] RAF Fairford was the only transoceanic abort landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK. As well as ...
The improvement of expendable launch vehicles and the transition away from commercial payloads on the Space Shuttle resulted in expendable launch vehicles becoming the primary deployment option for satellites. [28]: III–109–112 A key customer for the Space Shuttle was the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) responsible for spy satellites ...
The space shuttle concept was a remarkable pivot: Reusable, winged orbiters would take off strapped to rockets, sail through Earth’s orbit and glide to an airplane-esque runway landing.
The Air Force expected to use the Space Shuttle to launch large satellites, and required it to be capable of lifting 29,000 kg (65,000 lb) to an eastward LEO or 18,000 kg (40,000 lb) into a polar orbit. The satellite designs also required that the Space Shuttle have a 4.6 by 18 m (15 by 60 ft) payload bay.
Classrooms across America watched the launch. The shuttle was supposed to make spaceflight routine. ... against launching the shuttle in the extraordinarily cold air that morning but had been ...