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THE SPACE SHUTTLE. Shuttle Take Off T-31s ground computer system hands over to shuttle system T-16s sound suppression system soaks the launch pad with water – prevents sound and heat energy damaging the shuttle T-10s Hydrogen igniters are activated T-6.6s three space shuttle main engines
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Shuttle Take Off T-31s ground computer system hands over to shuttle system T-16s sound suppression system soaks the launch pad with water – prevents sound and heat energy damaging the shuttle T-10s Hydrogen igniters are activated T-6.6s three space shuttle main engines start up. All three must reach 100% thrust in 3 seconds T-0s solid rocket boosters ignite. This is point of no return, they cannot be switched off
The exit tubes for the three main space shuttle engines.
During re-entry the shuttle gets very hot – reaching temperatures up to 1500 oC Thrusters reduce speed slightly from orbit speed of 28,000 km/h Shuttle enters atmosphere inclined at 40o to slow down – this is 120 km above Earth The shuttle flies in big S-shaped curves to slow down dramatically in the thicker air of the atmosphere 12 km from the runway and 3 km high, the shuttle deploys its flaps to slow from 682 km/h to 346 km/h A typical jet plane touches down at 260 km/h
A big parachute is deployed when the shuttle touches down and detaches automatically when the shuttle has slowed to 110 km/h The shuttle brakes until it comes to a full stop and needs to rest a few minutes to cool down before the crew can leave
Weather Conditions • No rain at the launch pad or on the flight path • No lightning within 5 nautical miles • No lightning causing clouds within 10 nautical miles • No cloud cover at all up to 2,500m • Wind of less than 30 knots • Previous 24 hours must have an average temperature above 5oC • Temperature on the day must remain between 5oC and 37oC.
EARTH and the SUN • The Earth is 149,600,000 km away from the Sun • To get there on the shuttle would take 5,343 hours or 223 days
EARTH and the SOLAR SYSTEM EDGE • The Earth is 13 billion km from the edge of the solar system • To travel there on the shuttle would take 464,286 hours or 19,345 days or 53 years
EARTH and the NEAREST STAR • The nearest star to Earth is called Proxima Centauri (also known as Alpha Centauri C) • Proxima Centauri is now 4.24 light years from Earth • If we travelled there in a shuttle it would take 1,432,635,429 hours or 59,693,143 days or 163,543 years
What if we took a faster space-craft? • Voyager I travels at 62,000 km/h • To get to the sun would take 100.5 days • To get to the edge of the solar system would take 24 years • To get to Proxima Centauri would now take 74,000 years
What if we took a faster space-craft? • Helios 2 has set a record for space travel, going at 253,000 km/h • To get to the sun would now take 25 days • To get to the edge of the solar system would take 5.9 years • To get to Proxima Centauri would now take 18,000 years
Not as far away as it seems • Space seems a long way away right now. • BUT: • Humanity has come a long way very fast in 50 years we went from the first flight ever to putting a man on the moon • We can travel 1000 times as fast now as we could then • Who knows where we’ll be in another 50 years?