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The intention of these flights was to test the flight characteristics of the orbiter itself, on a typical approach and landing profile from orbit. [5] [6] [7] For the approach and landing tests, a nose strut longer than those employed in later ferry flights increased the shuttle's angle of attack relative to the 747. Prior to the orbiter being ...
NASA received the Space Shuttle orbiter later named Enterprise, on 14 January. This unpowered sub-orbital space plane was launched off the top of a modified 747 and was flown uncrewed until 13 August until a human crew landed the Enterprise for the first time. In August and September, the two Voyager spacecraft to the outer planets were launched.
The longest orbital flight of the Shuttle was STS-80 at 17 days 15 hours, while the shortest flight was STS-51-L at one minute 13 seconds when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart during launch. The cold morning shrunk an O-Ring on the right Solid Rocket Booster causing the external fuel tank to explode.
December 9, 1977 Enterprise, approach and landing flight tests Armstrong Flight Research Center, lasted 3 hours, 37 minutes March 10–13, 1978 Enterprise , ferry flight from Armstrong Flight Research Center to Marshall Space Flight Center (via Ellington Air Force Base ) for vertical ground vibration tests at MSFC.
Space Shuttle Enterprise (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-101) was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle system. Rolled out on September 17, 1976, it was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform atmospheric test flights after being launched from a modified Boeing 747. [1] It was constructed without engines or a functional ...
The prime landing site was the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a purpose-built landing strip. Landings also occurred at Edwards Air Force Base in California, and one took place at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. No Space Shuttle landed on a dry lakebed runway after 1991.
The Approach and Landing Tests were a series of taxi and flight trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise, conducted at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977. They verified the shuttle's flight characteristics when mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and when flying on its own, prior to the Shuttle system becoming operational.
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 ...