Space shuttle.-Space shuttle
brief introduction
1969 in April, NASA put forward a plan to build a reusable spacecraft. 1972 65438+ 10, the United States formally put the development of the space transportation system of the space shuttle into the plan, and determined the design scheme of the space shuttle, which consists of three parts: a recoverable solid rocket booster, two non-recoverable external fuel tanks and a reusable orbiter. Five years later, in February of 1977, the space shuttle orbiter was developed and carried by Boeing 747 aircraft for aerial test. 1June 1977 18, the first manned flight was carried out on the back of an airplane in the sky. Two astronauts, C·F· Heather and G fullerton, took part in the flight test. On August 12, the manned flight test on board was successfully completed. Four years later, the first manned space shuttle finally boarded the space stage, which is another milestone in the history of space technology development.
The space shuttle is a manned spacecraft, which takes off vertically and lands horizontally. It is launched into space by a rocket engine, can run in orbit, can go back and forth between the earth's surface and near-earth orbit, and can be partially reused. It consists of three parts: orbiter, solid fuel booster rocket and external tank. The three main engines of the orbiter launched two solid fuel booster rockets at the same time. When the space shuttle rose to a height of 50 kilometers, the two booster rockets stopped working, separated from the orbiter, and could be reused for 20 times after recovery and repair. The external fuel tank is a huge shell filled with propellant from the main engine of the orbiter. Before the space shuttle entered the earth orbit, the main engine was turned off, the outer tank was separated from the orbiter and burned in the atmosphere. The external fuel tank is the only part of the space shuttle assembly that cannot be recycled. The orbiter of the space shuttle is a manned part, which has a spacious cabin and is divided into several "rooms" according to the needs of the space mission. There is a large cargo hold, which can accommodate large equipment. The orbiter can carry three professional astronauts (such as commander or captain, pilot, mission expert, etc. ) and four other crew members (amateur astronauts). The air in the engine room is a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. After the space shuttle completed its mission in space orbit, the orbiter descended and returned home, landing horizontally on the scheduled runway like a glider. The orbiter can be reused 100 times.
The space shuttle is a rocket-powered aircraft, which aims to cross the boundary between the atmosphere and space (Carmen line, height 100 km). It is a winged reusable spacecraft launched from the atmosphere by an auxiliary launch vehicle. As a means of transportation between the earth and outer space, the space shuttle combines the attributes of an airplane and a spaceship, like a winged spaceship and looks like an airplane. The wings of the space shuttle provide air braking when returning to Earth and lift when descending the runway. Like other disposable vehicles, the space shuttle ascends vertically by rocket power. The space shuttle has a low payload ratio because of its wings. Designers hope to make up for this shortcoming with reusability.
Although many countries in the world have successively developed space shuttles, in fact, only the United States and the former Soviet Union have successfully launched and recovered such vehicles. However, due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, after the relevant equipment was received by Kazakhstan, the entire space program was shut down due to insufficient funds to maintain its operation. Therefore, at present, only the American space shuttle fleet can actually use and perform tasks in the world.
On April 2, millions of people gathered at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of the first space shuttle, Columbia. Astronauts John W. Young and Crippen turned a new page in the history of space flight.
The space shuttle has a total length of about 56 meters, a wingspan of about 24 meters, a takeoff weight of about 2,040 tons, a takeoff thrust of 2,800 tons and a maximum payload of 29.5 tons. Its core orbiter is 37.2 meters long, which is roughly equivalent to the size of a DC-9 passenger plane. Each flight can carry up to 8 astronauts for 7 to 30 days, and the orbiter can be reused 100 times. The space shuttle combines the technical features of rockets, satellites and airplanes. It can be launched vertically into space orbit like a rocket, fly in space orbit like a satellite, and glide into the atmosphere like an airplane. It is a new type of multifunctional spacecraft.
From 198 1 to 1993, five American space shuttles made 59 flights, including Columbia 15, Challenger 10, Discovery 17 and Atlantis/kloc-0. It carries 2 to 8 astronauts at a time, and the flight time ranges from 2 days to 14 days. 12 years, 30 1 people took part in the space shuttle flight, including 18 female astronauts. During the 59 flights of the Space Shuttle, more than 50 satellites were sent into space, 2 space stations were put into orbit, 3 space probes, 1 space telescope and 1 gamma ray detector were launched, satellite space recovery and space repair were carried out, and a series of scientific experiments were carried out, which achieved fruitful results.
In addition to transporting people and goods between heaven and earth, the space shuttle can also carry out a large number of scientific experiments and space research in space by virtue of its large size, strong multi-person carrying capacity and large payload. It can release artificial satellites from the ground into space, or repair or destroy unmanned spacecraft in space, such as low-orbit satellites and other artificial celestial bodies, and then put them into use. It can even put the "space laboratory" developed by ESA into the cabin to carry out various scientific research work.
The American space shuttle has set many new space records. John young was the commander of the space shuttle's maiden voyage. He flew into space six times and became the most astronaut in the world. June/KOOC-0/June/KOOC-0/8, female astronaut Sally K Ride took the Challenger, ranking first among American women in space flight. 1On August 30th, 983, Challenger sent the first black American astronaut, Geon S. Bluffd, into space. 1On February 3rd, 984, Delaisse flew into the sky with the Challenger, becoming the first astronaut in the world to walk in space without security. 1April 6, 984, astronauts successfully captured and repaired satellites in orbit for the first time. 1984 10 10 On 5 October, Catherine D. Sullivan, who participated in the Challenger flight, became the first female astronaut in the United States to walk in space. 1985 65438+1On October 24th, Discovery launched its first secret military mission. 1On April 29th, 985, Wang Ganjun, the first astronaut in China, took part in scientific experiments aboard the Challenger. 1985165438+1On October 26th, Atlantis carried astronauts into space for the first time. 1on may 7, 992, endeavour made its first flight, and astronauts successfully rescued the recovered satellite in space for the first time. On July 3 1, Atlantis was launched, and tethered satellite conducted power generation test for the first time. On September 12, Endeavour sent the first black female astronaut, the first Japanese journalist and the first astronaut couple into space.
The maiden voyage of the space shuttle Blizzard was a success.
1988165438+1October 15 at 6 o'clock in the morning Moscow time, the space shuttle "blizzard" of the former Soviet Union was launched from Baikonur Space Center for the first time and entered a circular orbit 250 kilometers above the ground 47 minutes later. It flew around the earth twice, traveled in space for three hours, returned safely as scheduled at 9: 25, and landed accurately on the cement runway 0/2 km away from the launch site/kloc-0, completing an unmanned test flight.
The space shuttle "Blizzard" is almost as big as an ordinary large passenger plane, and its shape is very similar to that of the American space shuttle, with triangular wings. The captain is 36 meters, the altitude is 16 meters, the wingspan is 24 meters, the fuselage diameter is 5.6 meters, the takeoff weight is 105 tons, and the landing weight after returning is 82 tons. It has a large cargo hold with a length of 18.3 meters and a diameter of 4.7 meters, which can send 30 tons of cargo into low-earth orbit and transport 20 tons of cargo back to the ground. There is a cabin with a volume of 70 cubic meters at the head, which can take 10 people. Scientists believe that this time, relying entirely on the computer system on the remote control machine of the ground control center, it will automatically return and land on the narrow runway without driving, which is much more difficult than the manned flight test of the US space shuttle in 198 1 year. First of all, the main engine of Blizzard is not installed at the tail of the space shuttle, but on the energy rocket, which greatly reduces the weight of the space shuttle in orbit, and also makes room for installing small motor-driven flight engines and deceleration brake umbrellas. Secondly, when the blizzard lands, it can use the small engine at the tail to make dynamic maneuvering flight and land safely and accurately on the narrow runway. In the case of landing failure, it can also improve the reliability of the space shuttle for a second landing. The American space shuttle can only land once by unpowered gliding. Thirdly, blizzard can glide in the atmosphere with the help of aileron, rudder and air brake, just like an ordinary plane. It is also equipped with a deceleration brake umbrella, which will automatically pop up when the speed slows down to 50 km/h during landing and taxiing, so that the space shuttle can stop in a short distance. The successful maiden voyage of Blizzard indicates that the space activities of the former Soviet Union have entered a new stage, paving the way for the establishment of a more perfect transportation system between heaven and earth. The manned flight was originally planned to be carried out one year later, but due to the fact that the safety and reliability of the airborne system have not been fully guaranteed, and the subsequent political and economic reasons, the time for loading into the flight was delayed.