123-619: The Space Shuttle Pathfinder (unofficial Orbiter Vehicle Designation : OV-098) is a Space Shuttle test simulator made of steel and wood . Constructed by NASA in 1977 as an unnamed facilities test article , it was purchased in the early 1980s by the America-Japan Society, Inc. which had it refurbished, named it, and placed it on display in the Great Space Shuttle Exhibition in Tokyo. The mockup
246-463: A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). Scientists from MSFC were among the co-investigators. The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), popularly known as the "Moon Buggy," was developed at MSFC to provide transportation for exploring a limited amount of the Moon's surface. Not intended in the original planning, by 1969 it became clear that an LRV would be needed to maximize the scientific returns. An LRV
369-459: A 1.3-inch-thick (33 mm) optical pane, and an external thermal pane. The windows were tinted with the same ink used to make American banknotes . The Space Shuttle orbiter had three sets of landing gear which emerged downwards through doors in the heat shield. As a weight-saving measure, the gear could not be retracted once deployed. Since any premature extension of the landing gear would very likely have been catastrophic (as it opened through
492-529: A Jupiter C in a Juno I configuration (addition of a fourth stage) to successfully place Explorer 1 , the first US satellite, into orbit around the Earth. Effective at the end of March 1958, the U.S. Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC), encompassing the ABMA and its newly operational space programs. In August, AOMC and Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, a Department of Defense organization) jointly initiated
615-631: A Marshall Center payload is on board. MSFC has been NASA's lead center for the development of rocket propulsion systems and technologies. During the 1960s, the activities were largely devoted to the Apollo Program , with the Saturn family of launch vehicles designed and tested at MSFC. MSFC also had a major role in post-Apollo activities, including Skylab , the Space Shuttle , and Spacelab and other experimental activities which made use of
738-511: A Redstone with spin-stabilized upper stages. This ABMA developed Jupiter-C was composed of a Redstone rocket first stage and two upper stages for RV tests or three upper stages for Explorer satellite launches. ABMA had originally planned the 20 September 1956 flight as a satellite launch but, by direct intervention of Eisenhower, was limited to the use of 2 upper stages for an RV test flight traveling 3,350 mi (5,390 km) downrange and attaining an altitude of 682 mi (1,098 km). While
861-865: A deployable attachment to the Apollo spacecraft. Called the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), the project was assigned to MSFC in 1966. As the Orbital Workshop matured into the Skylab, the ATM was added as an appendage, but the two activities were kept as independent development projects. Rein Ise was the ATM project manager at MSFC. The ATM included eight major instruments for observations of the Sun at wavelengths from extreme ultraviolet to infrared . The data
984-570: A distance of 1,500 mi (2,400 km), successfully withstanding 38 times the normal pull of gravity. On October 21, 1959, President Eisenhower approved the transfer of all Army space-related activities to NASA. On July 1, 1960 the Marshall Space Flight Center, or the MSFC, was created out of the old Redstone Arsenal. The Center was then also placed under the jurisdiction of the recently created NASA, and Wernher von Braun
1107-626: A modified Boeing 747 airliner called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and released for a series of atmospheric test flights and landings. Enterprise was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing. The remaining orbiters were fully operational spacecraft, and were launched vertically as part of the Space Shuttle stack. Columbia was the first space-worthy orbiter; it made its inaugural flight in 1981. Challenger , Discovery , and Atlantis followed in 1983, 1984, and 1985 respectively. In 1986, Challenger
1230-476: A modified marking scheme for the shuttle fleet that would be matched by Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour . The letters "USA" in black above an American flag were displayed on the left wing, with the NASA "worm" logotype in gray centered above the name of the orbiter in black on the right wing. Also, the name of the orbiter was inscribed not on the payload bay doors, but on the forward fuselage just below and behind
1353-421: A more powerful 230-thousand-pounds thrust. The J-2 was gimbaled and could also be restarted during flight. The vehicle was first flight-tested on February 26, 1966. Fourteen Saturn 1Bs (or partial vehicles) were built, with five used in uncrewed testing and five others used in crewed missions, the last on July 15, 1975. The Saturn V , an expendable human-rated heavy-lift vehicle, was the most vital element in
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#17327983014991476-560: A program managed by ABMA to develop a large space booster of approximately 1.5-million-pounds thrust using a cluster of available rocket engines. In early 1959, this vehicle was designated Saturn . On April 2, President Dwight D. Eisenhower recommended to Congress that a civilian agency be established to direct nonmilitary space activities. On July 29, the President signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act , forming
1599-549: A similar number of employees working in MSFC facilities. Several support contracting firms were also involved in the programs; the largest of these was Brown Engineering Company (BECO, later Teledyne Brown Engineering ), the first high-technology firm in Huntsville and by this time having some 3,500 employees. In the Saturn-Apollo activities, BECO/TBE provided about 20-million man-hours of support. Milton K. Cummings
1722-458: A total of 1.0-million-pounds thrust. The third stage (S-IVB) had a single gimballed J-2 engine with 200-thousand-pounds thrust. As previously noted, the J-2 engine could be restarted in flight. The basic configuration for this heavy-lift vehicle was selected in early 1963, and the name Saturn V was applied at that time (configurations that might have led to Saturn II, III, and IV were discarded). While
1845-617: Is 60 ft (18 m) by 15 ft (4.6 m), and could transport 24,400 kg (53,800 lb) to 204 km (127 mi), or 12,500 kg (27,600 lb) to the ISS at 407 km (253 mi). The most massive payload launched by the Space Shuttle was the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 at 50,162 lb (22,753 kg), including its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and support equipment. The Shuttle
1968-739: Is named in honor of General of the Army George C. Marshall . The center contains the Huntsville Operations Support Center ( HOSC ), also known as the International Space Station Payload Operations Center . This facility supports ISS launch, payload, and experiment activities at the Kennedy Space Center . The HOSC also monitors rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station when
2091-431: Is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle , a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program . Operated from 1981 to 2011 by NASA , the U.S. space agency, this vehicle could carry astronauts and payloads into low Earth orbit , perform in-space operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider , returning its crew and any on-board payload to
2214-458: Is the most powerful single-nozzle liquid-fueled rocket engine ever used in service; each produced 1.5-million-pounds thrust. Originally started by the U.S. Air Force, responsibility for the development was taken over by ABMA in 1959, and the first test firings at MSFC were in December 1963. The original vehicle, designated Saturn I , consisted of two propulsion stages and an instrument unit; it
2337-1070: The Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois but was later transferred to the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma . The Motion Base Simulator was transferred to the Texas A&;M Aerospace Engineering Department in College Station, Texas , and the Guidance and Navigation Simulator went to the Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum in Starke, Florida . NASA also made approximately 7,000 TPS tiles available to schools and universities. Data from General characteristics Performance The cargo bay
2460-736: The Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was established. One of the primary programs was a 1,500-mile (2,400 km), single-stage missile that was started the previous year; intended for both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, this was designated the PGM-19 Jupiter . Guidance component testing for this Jupiter intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) began in March 1956 on a modified Redstone missile dubbed Jupiter A while re-entry vehicle testing began in September 1956 on
2583-746: The External Tank (ET) that carried liquid fuel for the OV's main engines. MSFC was responsible for the SRBs, the OV's three main engines, and the ET. MSFC was also responsible for the integration of Spacelab , a versatile laboratory developed by the European Space Agency and carried in the Shuttle's cargo bay on some flights. The first test firing of an OV main engine was in 1975. Two years later,
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#17327983014992706-556: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA incorporated the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics , Ames Research Center , Langley Research Center , and Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory . Despite the existence of an official space agency, the Army continued with far-reaching space programs. In June 1959, a secret study on Project Horizon was completed by ABMA, detailing plans for using
2829-658: The PGM-11 Redstone . Over the next decade, missile development at Redstone Arsenal greatly expanded. However, von Braun kept space firmly in his mind, and published a widely read article on this subject. In mid-1952, the Germans were hired as regular civil service employees, with most becoming U.S. citizens in 1954-55. Von Braun was appointed Chief of the Guided Missile Development Division. In September 1954, von Braun proposed using
2952-515: The Pathfinder stack as spares. In 2008, repairs were made to the forward part of the mockup after decades of exposure to the weather had corroded the floor section near the vehicle's nose. This corrosion caused the "belly pan" to drop from a mounting bracket onto the external tank. The damaged area was part of the fiberglass and plywood added to the mockup before its exhibition in Japan. In 2020
3075-511: The Secretary of the Army approved the transfer of the rocket research and development activities from Fort Bliss to the new center at Redstone Arsenal. Beginning in April 1950, about 1,000 persons were involved in the transfer, including von Braun's group. At this time, R&D responsibility for guided missiles was added, and studies began on a medium-range guided missile that eventually became
3198-608: The V-2 missile development under von Braun at Peenemünde . The missile specialists were sent to Fort Bliss, Texas , joining the Army's newly formed Research and Development Division Sub-office (Rocket). For the next five years, von Braun and the German scientists and engineers were primarily engaged in adapting and improving the V-2 missile for U.S. applications. Testing was conducted at nearby White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico . von Braun
3321-579: The American flag above the orbiter's name, left-justified rather than centered, on the right wing. The three surviving flight vehicles, Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour , still bear these markings as museum displays. Enterprise became the property of the Smithsonian Institution in 1985 and was no longer under NASA's control when these changes were made, hence the prototype orbiter still has its 1983 markings and still has its name on
3444-577: The Apollo Program. Designed under the direction of Arthur Rudolph , the Saturn V holds the record as the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought to operational status from a combined height, weight, and payload standpoint. The Saturn V consisted of three propulsion stages and an instrument unit. The first stage (S-IC), had five F-1 engines, giving a combined total of 7.5-million-pounds thrust. The S-II second stage had five J-2 engines with
3567-669: The Center received a "Save America's Treasures" grant for $ 500,000 from the National Park Service . The project began with the wings and tail section temporarily removed between January and February 2021. On February 8, the Pathfinder was lowered from its mounting points atop the fuel tank for the first time since May 5, 1988. The restoration project is proceeding alongside cooperation with the Marshall Space Flight Center , who will assist in assessing
3690-565: The Earth on February 8, 1974. The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the last flight of a Saturn IB. On 15 July 1975, a three-person crew was launched on a six-day mission to dock with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The primary purpose was to provide engineering experience for future joint space flights, but both spacecraft also had scientific experiments. This was the last crewed U.S. space mission until April 1981. The High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO) Program involved three missions of large spacecraft in low Earth orbit . Each spacecraft
3813-521: The Earth. Six orbiters were built for flight: Enterprise , Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour . All were built in Palmdale, California , by the Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania -based Rockwell International company's North American Aircraft Operations branch. The first orbiter, Enterprise , made its maiden flight in 1977. An unpowered glider, it was carried by
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3936-503: The Florida launch that might involve Shuttle propulsion. On April 12, 1981, Columbia made the first orbital test flight with a crew of two astronauts. This was designated STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) and verified the combined performance of the entire system. STS-1 was followed by STS-2 on November 12, demonstrating safe re-launch of Columbia . During 1982, STS-3 and STS-4 were completed. STS-5 , launched November 11,
4059-530: The Jupiter-C capability was such that it could have placed the fourth stage in orbit, that mission had been assigned to the NRL. Later Jupiter-C flights would be used to launch satellites. The first Jupiter IRBM flight took place from Cape Canaveral in March 1957 with the first successful flight to full range on 31 May. Jupiter was eventually taken over by the U.S. Air Force. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 ,
4182-781: The Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility , Florida, except STS-3 at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Similar special clearances (no-fly zones) were also in effect at potential emergency landing sites, such as in Spain and in West Africa during all launches. When an orbiter landing was carried out at night, the runway was always strongly illuminated with light from floodlights and spotlights on
4305-428: The MSFC had been July 1, 1960, but its dedication ceremony took place two months later on September 8. At the dedication ceremony President Eisenhower gave a speech. The MSFC was named in honor of General George C. Marshall . The administrative activities in MSFC were led by persons with backgrounds in traditional U.S. Government functions, but all of the technical heads were individuals who had assisted von Braun in
4428-522: The Moon: Apollo 11 , 12 , 14 , 15 , 16 , and 17 . Apollo 13 had been intended as a landing, but only circled the Moon and returned to Earth after an oxygen tank ruptured and crippled power in the CSM. Except for Apollo 11, all of the missions carried an Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), composed of equipment for seven scientific experiments plus a central remote control station with
4551-638: The Redstone as the main booster of a multi-stage rocket for launching artificial satellites. A year later, a study for Project Orbiter was completed, detailing plans and schedules for a series of scientific satellites. However, the Army's official role in the U.S. space satellite program was delayed after higher authorities elected to use the Vanguard rocket then being developed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). In February 1956,
4674-498: The S1C Static Test Stand was for live firing of the five F-1 engines of the first stage. Delivering a total of 7.5-million-pounds thrust, the tests produced earthquake-like rumbles throughout the Huntsville area and could be heard as far as 100 mi (160 km) away. As the Saturn activities progressed, external facilities and factories were needed. In 1961, The Michoud Rocket Factory near New Orleans, Louisiana,
4797-463: The Saturn booster in establishing a crewed Army outpost on the Moon. Project Horizon was rejected, and the Saturn program was transferred to NASA. Project Mercury was officially named on 26 November 1958. With a future goal of crewed flight, monkeys Able and Miss Baker were the first living creatures recovered from outer space on May 28, 1959. They had been carried in the nose cone on a Jupiter missile to an altitude of 300 mi (480 km) and
4920-646: The Shuttle's cargo bay. After the May 1945 end of World War II in Germany, the US initiated Operation Paperclip to collect a number of scientists and engineers who had been at the center of Nazi Germany's advanced military technologies. In August 1945, 127 missile specialists led by Wernher von Braun signed work contracts with the United States Army Ordnance Corps . Most of them had worked on
5043-932: The Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center , replacing Enterprise which was moved to the Intrepid Museum in New York City . Endeavour went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles arriving on October 14, 2012. Atlantis went to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island on November 2, 2012. Hundreds of other shuttle artifacts will be put on display at various other museums and educational institutions around
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5166-767: The U.S. One of the Crew Compartment Trainer Flight and mid-deck training hardware is on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force , while the other is on display at the JSC. The Full Fuselage Trainer, which includes the payload bay and aft section but no wings, is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington . The Mission Simulation and Training Facility's Shuttle Mission Simulator Fixed Base Simulator originally went to
5289-434: The US to a lunar landing by the end of the decade. The primary mission of MSFC under the Apollo program was developing the heavy-lift Saturn family rockets. This required the development and qualification of three new liquid-fueled rocket engines, the J-2 , F-1 , and H-1 . Additionally, the existing RL10 was improved for use on the Saturn S-IV stage. Leland F. Belew managed the Engine Development Office. The F-1 engine
5412-408: The United States under Operation Paperclip after working together at Peenemünde . Von Braun knew well the capabilities of these individuals and had great confidence in them. In the following decade of developing hardware and technical operations that established new levels of complexity, there was never a single failure of their booster designs during crewed flight. The initial main project at MSFC
5535-623: The air, and covered in silicon borides and borosilicate glass , with blacker tiles covering the lower surface, and whiter tiles covering the tail, parts of the upper wing and crew cabin surfaces, and the outsides of the payload bay doors. The nose cap, nose landing gear doors, and leading edges were made of reinforced carbon–carbon , which is rayon impregnated with graphite -filled resins and coated in silicon carbide . The upper, white materials that were not in tiles were mostly made of either Nomex felt coated in silicon -rich elastomer or beta cloth , woven silica fibers covered in Teflon . This
5658-545: The attitude of the orbiter during most of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere – until the air became dense enough that the rudder, elevons and body flap became effective. The orbiter's OMS and RCS fuel is monomethyl hydrazine (CH 3 NHNH 2 ), and the oxidizer is dinitrogen tetroxide (N 2 O 4 ). This particular propellant combination is extremely reactive and spontaneously ignites on contact (hypergolic) with each other. This chemical reaction (4CH 3 NHNH 2 + 5N 2 O 4 → 9N 2 + 4CO 2 + 12H 2 O) occurs within
5781-399: The checkout procedures. Static test stands had been constructed at ABMA for the Redstone and Jupiter rockets. In 1961, the Jupiter stand was modified to test Saturn 1 and 1B stages. A number of other test stands followed, the largest being the Saturn V Dynamic Test Stand completed in 1964. At 475 ft (145 m) in height, the entire Saturn V could be accommodated. Also completed in 1964,
5904-456: The cockpit windows. This would make the name visible when the orbiter was photographed in orbit with the doors open. Challenger also had black tiles on the tip of its vertical stabilizer much like Columbia , which the other orbiters lacked. In 1983, Enterprise had its wing markings changed to match Challenger , and the NASA "worm" logotype on the aft end of the payload bay doors was changed from gray to black. Some black markings were added to
6027-413: The direction of their thrust. Hence, they steered the entire Space Shuttle, as well as providing rocket thrust towards orbit. The aft fuselage also housed three auxiliary power units (APU). The APUs chemically converted hydrazine fuel from a liquid state to a gas state , powering a hydraulic pump which supplied pressure for all of the hydraulic system, including the hydraulic sub-system that pointed
6150-414: The display and built a stand. NASA provided MPTA-ET and two filament-wound Solid Rocket Booster casings, which had been designed for polar-orbit launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base . On February 16, 1988, NASA shipped MPTA-ET , an external tank which had been used for propulsion tests with MPTA-098 , on an open barge from Stennis Space Center in Mississippi up the river to Michoud , where it
6273-446: The display at the museum. In May 1988, the 89-ton Pathfinder was installed atop the display at the Space & Rocket Center. In 1999, NASA removed the forward assemblies from each SRB attached to the Pathfinder stack. Although the SRBs are recovered and reused after each flight, several of the forward assemblies had been damaged or lost over the history of the Space Shuttle program necessitating requisition of those attached to
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#17327983014996396-422: The early activities, Highwater and Pegasus, were performed on a non-interference basis while testing the Saturn I vehicle. In Project Highwater , a dummy Saturn I second stage was filled with 23,000 US gallons (87 m ) of water as ballast. After burnout of the first stage, explosive charges released the water into the upper atmosphere. The project answered questions about the diffusion of liquid propellants in
6519-417: The end of the mission. The hydrogen and oxygen for the fuel cells was kept in pairs of cryogenic storage tanks in the mid-fuselage underneath the payload bay liner, and a variable number of such tank sets could be installed (up to five pairs) depending on the requirements of the mission. The three fuel cells were capable of generating 21 kilowatts of power continuously (or a 15-minute peak of 36 kilowatts) with
6642-452: The engine's combustion chamber. The reaction products are then expanded and accelerated in the engine bell to provide thrust. Due to their hypergolic characteristics these two chemicals are easily started and restarted without an ignition source, which makes them ideal for spacecraft maneuvering systems. During the early design process of the orbiter, the forward RCS thrusters were to be hidden underneath retractable doors, which would open once
6765-559: The event that a rocket was destroyed at high altitude. Highwater experiments were carried out in April and November 1962. Under the Pegasus Satellite Program , the Saturn I second stage was instrumented to study the frequency and penetration depth of micrometeoroids . Two large panels were folded into the empty stage and unfolded in orbit, presenting 2,300 ft (210-m ) of instrumented surface. Three Pegasus satellites were launched during 1965, with each one staying in orbit from 3 to 13 years. There were six Apollo missions that landed on
6888-455: The external tank. Two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) thrusters were mounted in two separate removable pods on the orbiter's aft fuselage, located between the SSMEs and the vertical stabilizer. The OMS engines provided significant thrust for course orbital maneuvers , including insertion, circularization, transfer, rendezvous, deorbit, abort to orbit, and to abort once around . At lift-off, two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were used to take
7011-417: The federally owned Plant 42 complex. Each NASA Space Shuttle designation was composed of a prefix and suffix separated by a dash. The prefix for operational shuttles is OV, for Orbiter Vehicle . The suffix is composed of two parts: the series and the vehicle number; "0" was used for non-flight ready orbiters, and "1" was used for flight-ready orbiters. The vehicle number is sequentially assigned within
7134-465: The final Shuttle flight, STS-135 , on July 21, 2011. In addition to their crews and payloads, the reusable orbiter carried most of the Space Shuttle System 's liquid-propellant rocket system, but both the liquid hydrogen fuel and the liquid oxygen oxidizer for its three main rocket engines were fed from an external cryogenic propellant tank . Additionally, two reusable solid rocket boosters (SRBs) provided additional thrust for approximately
7257-422: The first artificial Earth orbiting satellite, on October 4, 1957. This was followed on November 3 with the second satellite, Sputnik 2 . The United States attempted a satellite launch on December 6 using the NRL's Vanguard rocket, but it barely struggled off the ground, then fell back and exploded. On January 31, 1958, after finally receiving permission to proceed, von Braun and the ABMA space development team used
7380-409: The first firing of a SRB took place and tests on the ET began at MSFC. The first Enterprise OV flight, attached to a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), was in February 1977; this was followed by free landings in August and October. In March 1978, the Enterprise OV was flown atop a SCA to MSFC. Mated to an ET, the partial Space Shuttle was hoisted onto the modified Saturn V Dynamic Test Stand where it
7503-524: The first two minutes of launch. The orbiters themselves did carry hypergolic propellants for their Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters and Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines. About the size of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 , the Space Shuttle orbiter resembled an airplane in its design, with a standard-looking fuselage and two double delta wings, both swept wings at an angle of 81 degrees at their inner leading edges and 45 degrees at their outer leading edges. The vertical stabilizer of
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#17327983014997626-484: The flight phases of launching, orbiting , and re-entry. This system also executed any needed orbital maneuvers, including all changes in the orbit's altitude, orbital plane , and eccentricity . These were all operations that required more thrust and impulse than mere attitude control. The forward rockets of the Reaction Control System, located near the nose of the Space Shuttle orbiter, included 14 primary and two vernier RCS rockets. The aft RCS engines were located in
7749-420: The floor of the mid-deck and contained air and water tanks in addition to the carbon dioxide scrubbing system. Three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) were mounted on the orbiter's aft fuselage in the pattern of an equilateral triangle . These three liquid-fueled engines could be swiveled 10.5 degrees vertically and 8.5 degrees horizontally during the rocket-powered ascent of the orbiter in order to change
7872-417: The ground, making landing lights on the orbiter unnecessary and also an unneeded spaceflight weight load. A total of 26 landings took place at night, the first being STS-8 in September 1983. The typeface used on the Space Shuttle orbiter was Helvetica . The prototype orbiter Enterprise originally had a flag of the United States on the upper surface of the left wing and the letters "USA" in black on
7995-458: The heat shield layers), the landing gear could only be lowered by manual controls, and not by any automatic system. Similarly, since the Shuttle landed at high speed and could not abort its landing attempt, the gear had to deploy reliably on the first try every time. The gear were unlocked and deployed by triple redundant hydraulics, with the gear doors actuated by mechanical linkages to the gear strut. If all three hydraulic systems failed to release
8118-472: The landing gear uplocks within one second of the release command, pyrotechnic charges automatically cut the lock hooks and a set of springs deployed the gear. During landing, the Shuttle nose wheel could be steered with the rudder pedals in the cockpit. During the construction of Space Shuttle Endeavour , an improved nose wheel steering system was developed which allowed easier and more effective nose wheel steering. After Endeavour 's roll-out,
8241-441: The largest NASA center, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo program . Marshall has been the lead center for the Space Shuttle main propulsion and external tank ; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station (ISS) design and assembly; computers, networks, and information management; and the Space Launch System . Located on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, MSFC
8364-543: The late 1960s, but funding did not become available for some time. Using Atlas-Centaur launch vehicles, three highly successful missions were flown: HEAO 1 in August 1977, HEAO 2 (also called the Einstein Observatory) in November 1978, and HEAO 3 in September 1979. Fred A. Speer was the HEAO project manager for MSFC. Other MSFC-managed space science projects in the 1970s included the Laser Geodynamics Satellite (LAGEOS) and Gravity Probe A . In LAGEOS, laser beams from 35 ground stations are reflected by 422 prismatic mirrors on
8487-479: The loss of the station's micrometeoroid shield/sun shade and one of its main solar panels. This loss was partially corrected by the first crew, launched May 25; they stayed in orbit with Skylab for 28 days. Two additional missions followed with the launch dates of July 28 and November 16, with mission durations of 59 and 84 days, respectively. Skylab, including the ATM, logged about 2,000 hours on some 300 scientific and medical experiments. The last Skylab crew returned to
8610-410: The many successes at the MSFC'S predecessor, the ABMA , where von Braun had been the Technical Director. The initial technical leaders of the new MSFC had all been former colleagues of von Braun starting back in Germany before World War II. These technical department and/ or division heads were as follows: With the exception of Koelle, all of the technical department and/ or division heads had come to
8733-508: The navies of the world (though the test orbiter Enterprise , originally to be named " Constitution ", had its name changed after the Star Trek starship , itself named after a series of US Navy ships ), and they were also numbered using the NASA Orbiter Vehicle designation system. Three of the names had also been given to Apollo spacecraft between 1969 and 1972: Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia , Apollo 15 Command Module Endeavour , and Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger . While all of
8856-514: The nose, cockpit windows and vertical tail to more closely resemble the flight vehicles, but the name "Enterprise" remained on the payload bay doors as there was never any need to open them. Columbia had its name moved to the forward fuselage to match the other flight vehicles after STS-61-C , during the 1986–1988 hiatus when the shuttle fleet was grounded following the loss of Challenger , but retained its original wing markings until its last overhaul (after STS-93 ), and its unique black chines for
8979-732: The operational orbiters and test articles produced for use in the Shuttle program, there are also various mockup replicas on display throughout the United States: Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center ; MSFC ), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama ( Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government 's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As
9102-567: The orbiter consuming an average of about 14 kilowatts of that power (leaving 7 kilowatts for the payload). Additionally, the fuel cells provided potable water for the crew during the mission. The orbiter's computer system consisted of five identical IBM AP-101 avionics computers, which redundantly controlled the vehicle's on-board systems. The specialized HAL/S programming language was used for orbiter systems. The orbiters were protected by Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials (developed by Rockwell Space Systems ) inside and out, from
9225-422: The orbiter had a leading edge that was swept back at a 45-degree angle. There were four elevons mounted at the trailing edges of the delta wings, and the combination rudder and speed brake was attached at the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer . These, along with a movable body flap located underneath the main engines, controlled the orbiter during later stages of reentry . The prime contractor for
9348-532: The orbiter reached space. These were omitted in favor of flush-mounted thrusters for fear that the RCS doors would remain stuck open and endanger the crew and orbiter during re-entry. The orbiter's flight deck or cockpit originally had 2,214 controls and displays, about three times as many as the Apollo command module . The crew cabin consisted of the flight deck, the mid-deck, and the utility area. The uppermost of these
9471-536: The orbiter was Rockwell International, which built the pressurized cabin, thermal protection, forward attitude control system, and forward and aft fuselage in its Downey, California factory, the payload bay doors in its Tulsa, Oklahoma factory, and the body flap in its Columbus, Ohio factory. Subcontractors included Convair in San Diego for the midsection, Fairchild Aircraft in Farmingdale, New York for
9594-456: The orbiter were also located on the mid-deck, as well as the airlock . The airlock had an additional hatch into the payload bay. This airlock allowed two or three astronauts, wearing their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suits, to depressurize before a walk in space ( EVA ), and also to repressurize and re-enter the orbiter at the conclusion of the EVA. The utility area was located under
9717-406: The orbiter's outer surface to the payload bay. The TPS protected it from the cold soak of −121 °C (−186 °F) in space to the 1,649 °C (3,000 °F) heat of re-entry. The tile materials comprising much of the orbiter's outermost layer were mostly air held within near-pure silica fibers, which made it efficient at refractory insulation that absorbed and redirected heat back out into
9840-651: The orbiters were externally practically identical, they had minor differences in their interiors. New equipment for the Orbiters was installed in the same order that they underwent maintenance work, and the newer orbiters were constructed by Rockwell International, under NASA supervision, with some more advanced, lighter in weight, structural elements. Thus, the newer orbiters ( Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour ) had slightly more cargo capacity than Columbia or Challenger . The Space Shuttle orbiters were assembled at Rockwell's assembly facility in Palmdale, California , at
9963-576: The orbiting space station hardware as well as overall systems engineering and integration. For testing and mission simulation, a 75-foot (23 m)-diameter water-filled tank, the Neutral Buoyancy Facility , was opened at MSFC in March 1968. Engineers and astronauts used this underwater facility to simulate the weightlessness (or zero-g) environment of space. This was particularly used in training astronauts in activities in zero-g work, especially spacewalks . The Orbital Workshop
10086-403: The payload bay doors. With the end of the Shuttle program, plans were made to place the three remaining Space Shuttle orbiters on permanent display. NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. announced the disposition location of the orbiters on April 12, 2011, the 50th anniversary of the first human space flight and the 30th anniversary of the first flight of Columbia . Discovery went to
10209-402: The proposed activities being abandoned, but an orbital workshop remained of interest. In December 1965, MSFC was authorized to begin the Orbital Workshop as a formal project. At a meeting at MSFC on August 19, 1966, George E. Mueller , NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, pinned down the final concept for the major elements. MSFC was assigned responsibility for the development of
10332-469: The remainder of its operational life. Beginning in STS-95 (1998), the flight vehicles' markings were modified to incorporate the NASA "meatball" insignia . The "worm" logotype, which the agency had phased out, was removed from the payload bay doors and the "meatball" insignia was added aft of the "United States" text on the lower aft fuselage. The "meatball" insignia was also displayed on the left wing, with
10455-576: The right wing. The name "Enterprise" in black was painted on the payload bay doors just above the forwardmost hinge and behind the crew module; on the aft end of the payload bay doors was the NASA "worm" logotype in gray. Underneath the rear of the payload bay doors on the side of the fuselage just above the wing was the text "United States" in black with a flag of the United States ahead of it. The first operational orbiter, Columbia , originally had
10578-534: The same IU configuration was used on the Saturn I and IB. With IBM as the prime contractor, the IU was the only full Saturn component manufactured in Huntsville. The first Saturn V test flight was made on November 9, 1967. On July 16, 1969, as its crowning achievement in the Apollo space program, a Saturn V vehicle lifted the Apollo 11 spacecraft and three astronauts on their journey to the Moon. Other Apollo launches continued through December 6, 1972. The last Saturn V flight
10701-431: The same markings as Enterprise , although the letters "USA" on the right wing were slightly larger and spaced farther apart. Columbia also had black tiles which Enterprise lacked on its forward RCS module, around the cockpit windows, and on its vertical stabilizer. Columbia also had distinctive black chines on the forward part of its upper wing surfaces, which none of the other orbiters had. Challenger established
10824-562: The satellite to track movements in the Earth's crust. The measurement accuracy is a few centimeters and it tracks the movement of tectonic plates with comparable accuracy. Conceived and built at MSFC, the LAGEOS was launched by a Delta rocket in May 1976. Gravity Probe A, also called the Redshift Experiment, used an extremely precise hydrogen maser clock to confirm part of Einstein's general theory of relativity . The probe
10947-545: The series, beginning with 1. Therefore, there can never be an OV-100 as it would read "Orbiter Vehicle Series 1 Vehicle 0". Many proposals to build a second generation of orbiters, externally compatible with the current system but internally new, refer to them as "OV-200" or "OV-2xx" in order to differentiate them from the "first generation", the OV-100s. This terminology is informal, and it is unlikely that any Shuttle-derived vehicle built will be given such designation. Challenger
11070-498: The structural integrity of the test shuttle. On Aug. 28, 2024, two cranes lifted the body of Pathfinder back into position on the shuttle stack in the first phase of a multi-day reassembly process. The reattachment of the wings and engine bells were scheduled to follow, completing the restoration of the display. 34°42′39″N 86°39′10″W / 34.71079°N 86.65280°W / 34.71079; -86.65280 Orbiter Vehicle Designation The Space Shuttle orbiter
11193-520: The system was installed on the other shuttles during their overhauls in the early 1990s. The Space Shuttle orbiter did not carry anti-collision lights , navigational lights , or landing lights , because the orbiter always landed in areas that had been specially cleared by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Air Force . The orbiter always landed at either Edwards Air Force Base , California or at
11316-493: The test flights also carried important auxiliary scientific experiments. The Saturn IB (alternatively known as the Uprated Saturn I) also had two propulsion stages and an instrument unit. The first stage (S-IB) also had eight H-1 engines with four gimballed, but the stage had eight fixed fins of equal size fitted to the sides to provide aerodynamic stability. The second stage (S-IVB) had a single J-2 engine that gave
11439-430: The three main liquid-fueled rocket engines, under computerized flight control . The hydraulic pressure generated was also used to control all of the orbiter's flight control surfaces (the elevons, rudder, speed brake, etc.), to deploy the landing gear of the orbiter, and to retract the umbilical hose connection doors located near the rear landing gear, which supplied the orbiter's SSMEs with liquid hydrogen and oxygen from
11562-539: The three propulsion stages were the "muscle" of the Saturn V, the Instrument Unit (IU) was the "brains." The IU was on a 260-inch (6.6-m) diameter, 36-inch (91-cm) high, ring that was held between the third propulsion stage and the LM. It contained the basic guidance system components – a stable platform, accelerometers, a digital computer, and control electronics – as well as radar, telemetry, and other units. Basically
11685-677: The two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods at the rear of the orbiter, and these included 12 primary (PRCS) and two vernier (VRCS) engines in each pod. The PRCS system provided the pointing control of the Orbiter, and the VRCS was used for fine maneuvering during the rendezvous, docking, and undocking maneuvers with the International Space Station , or formerly with the Russian Mir space station . The RCS also controlled
11808-419: The vehicle to an altitude of roughly 140,000 feet. Electric power for the orbiter's subsystems was provided by a set of three hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells which produced 28 volt DC power and was also converted into 115 volt 400 Hz AC three-phase electric power (for systems that used AC power ). These provided power to the entire Shuttle stack (including the SRBs and ET) from T-minus 3m30s up through
11931-635: The vertical stabilizer, Grumman in Bethpage, New York for the wings, Marquardt Corporation in Van Nuys, California for the attitude control propulsion, Aerojet in Rancho Cordova, California for the orbital insertion and deorbit propulsion, McDonnell Douglas for the surrounding pods, and Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Los Angeles for the launch and ascent propulsion. Final assembly
12054-607: The wood and steel mockup at a cost of US$ 1 million and hired Teledyne Brown Engineering to refurbish it to more closely resemble an actual Space Shuttle. It was named Pathfinder and displayed at the Great Space Shuttle Exposition in Tokyo from June 1983 to August 1984. After the exhibit, Pathfinder returned to the United States. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama designed
12177-411: Was destroyed in a disaster shortly after its 10th launch, killing all seven crew members. Endeavour was built as Challenger ' s successor, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry , leaving just three remaining orbiters. Discovery completed its final flight on March 9, 2011, and Endeavour completed its final flight on June 1, 2011. Atlantis completed
12300-500: Was a major activity at MSFC. Alex A. McCool, Jr. was the first manager of MSFC's Space Shuttle Projects Office. Throughout 1980, engineers at MSFC participated in tests related to plans to launch the first Space Shuttle. During these early tests and prior to each later Shuttle launch, personnel in the Huntsville Operations Support Center monitored consoles to evaluate and help solve any problems at
12423-460: Was about 18 ft (5.5 m) in length, massed between 6,000 and 7,000 lb (2,700 and 3,200 kg), and carried some 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) of experiments for X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy and cosmic-ray investigations. The project provided insights into celestial objects by studying their high-energy radiation from space. Scientists from across the US served as principal investigators . The HEAO spacecraft concept originated in
12546-405: Was allowed to use a WAC Corporal rocket as a second stage for a V-2; the combination, called Bumper, reached a record-breaking 250 mi (400 km) altitude. During World War II, the production and storage of ordnance shells was conducted by three arsenals nearby to Huntsville, Alabama . After the war, these were closed, and the three areas were combined to form Redstone Arsenal . In 1949,
12669-430: Was appointed as the Center's first NASA Director. Eberhart Rees, who was a former associate of von Braun from Germany, was also appointed as von Braun's Deputy for Research and Development. At the time of the creation of the MSFC, 4,670 civilian employees, about $ 100 million worth of buildings and equipment, and 1,840 acres (7.4 km ) of land were transferred from AOMC/ABMA to the new MSFC. The official opening date of
12792-407: Was below the flight deck, was normally equipped with up to three additional stowable seats, depending on the crew requirements of the mission. One mission carried four seats ( STS-61-A ) and NASA drew up plans that were never used to carry up to seven seats in the case of an emergency rescue ( STS-400 ). The galley, toilet, sleep locations, storage lockers, and the side hatch for entering and exiting
12915-556: Was built into the propellant tanks of a Saturn V third stage, being fully refitted on the ground. It was renamed Skylab in February 1970. Two were built – one for flight and the other for testing and mission simulation in the Neutral Buoyancy Facility. Leland F Belew served for eight years as the overall Skylab program director. Another AAP project that survived was a solar observatory, originally intended to be
13038-404: Was capable of returning approximately 16,000 kg (35,000 lb) of cargo to Earth. The orbiter's maximum glide ratio / lift-to-drag ratio varied considerably with speed, ranging from 1:1 at hypersonic speeds , 2:1 at supersonic speeds , and reaching 4.5:1 at subsonic speeds during approach and landing. Individual Space Shuttle orbiters were named in honor of antique sailing ships of
13161-522: Was carried on the last three missions, allowing an area similar in size to Manhattan Island to be explored. Outbound they carried an ALSEP to be set up; on the return trip, they carried more than 200 pounds of lunar rock and soil samples. Saverio "Sonny" Morea was the LRV project manager at MSFC. The Apollo Applications Program (AAP) involved science-based crewed space missions using surplus Apollo equipment. The lack of interest by Congress resulted in most of
13284-427: Was carried out at United States Air Force Plant 42 near Palmdale, California . The Reaction Control System (RCS) was composed of 44 small liquid-fueled rocket thrusters and their very sophisticated fly-by-wire flight control system , which utilized computationally intensive digital Kalman filtering . This control system carried out the usual attitude control along the pitch, roll, and yaw axes during all of
13407-472: Was especially true in the interior of the payload bay. The orbiter's structure was made primarily from aluminum alloy , although the engine thrust structure was made from titanium alloy . The later orbiters ( Discovery , Atlantis and Endeavour ) substituted graphite epoxy for aluminum in some structural elements in order to reduce weight. The windows were made of aluminum silicate glass and fused silica glass, and comprised an internal pressure pane,
13530-414: Was first tested in flight on October 27, 1961. The first stage (S-I) had a cluster of eight H-1 engines, giving approximately 1.5-million-pounds thrust total. The four outboard engines were gimbaled to allow vehicle steering. The second stage (SIV) had six gimbaled LR10A-3 engines, producing a combined 90-thousand-pounds thrust. Ten Saturn Is were used in flight-testing of Apollo boilerplate units. Five of
13653-507: Was given to the set of structural components manufactured to replace those used in the construction of Endeavour ; however, the contract for these was canceled shortly afterwards, and they were never completed. The "096" and "097" designators were given to structural test articles that were canceled, but while they exist in some NASA records, the NASA History Office has no official record of STA-096 and STA-097. In addition to
13776-412: Was later returned to the United States and placed on permanent display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama , in May 1988. Originally unnamed, the simulator was built at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1977 for use in activities such as checking roadway clearances, crane capabilities and fits within structures. It was later shipped by barge to the Kennedy Space Center and
13899-519: Was launched in June 1976, by a Scout rocket, and remained in space for near two hours, as intended. On January 5, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon announced plans to develop the Space Shuttle , a reusable Space Transportation System (STS) for routine access to space. The Shuttle was composed of the Orbiter Vehicle (OV) containing the crew and payload, two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), and
14022-444: Was mainly collected on special photographic film; during the Skylab missions, the film had to be changed out by astronauts in spacewalks . On May 14, 1973, the 77-ton (70,000-kg) Skylab was launched into a 235-nautical-mile (435-km) orbit by the last flown Saturn V. Saturn IB vehicles with their CSMs were used to launch three-person crews to dock with Skylab. Severe damage was sustained during Skylab launch and deployment, resulting in
14145-528: Was on May 14, 1973, in the Skylab Program (described later). A total of 15 Saturn Vs were built; 13 functioned flawlessly, and the other two remain unused. Wernher von Braun believed that the personnel designing the space vehicles should have direct, hands-on participation in the building and testing of the hardware. For this, MSFC had facilities where prototypes of every type of Saturn vehicle were fabricated. Large, special-purpose computers were used in
14268-429: Was originally intended to be used as a Structural Test Article (STA), rather than a flight-capable orbiter; as such, the numbering was changed when it was rebuilt. Enterprise , on the other hand, was intended to be rebuilt into a flight-capable orbiter; it was found to be cheaper to rebuild STA-099 than OV-101, so it remained unflown. The designations were not altered, despite these changes in plans. An "OV-106" designation
14391-615: Was selected as the Saturn V rocket manufacturing site. A 13,500 acres (55 km ) isolated area in Hancock County, Mississippi was selected to conduct Saturn tests. Known as the Mississippi Test Facility (later renamed the John C. Stennis Space Center ), this was primarily to test the vehicles built at the rocket factory . From the start, MSFC has had strong research projects in science and engineering. Two of
14514-551: Was subjected to a full range of vibrations comparable to those in a launch. The first spaceworthy Space Shuttle, Columbia , was completed and placed at the KSC for checking and launch preparation. On April 12, 1981, the Columbia made the first orbital test flight. The Space Shuttle was the most complex spacecraft ever built. From the start of the Shuttle program in 1972, the management and development of Space Shuttle propulsion
14637-466: Was the BECO president, Joseph C. Moquin the executive vice president, William A. Girdini led the engineering design and test work, and Raymond C. Watson, Jr., directed the research and advanced systems activities. Cummings Research Park , the second largest park of this type in the US, was named for Cummings in 1973. On May 25, 1961, just 20 days after Shepard's flight, President John F. Kennedy committed
14760-646: Was the final preparation of a Redstone rocket for Project Mercury to lift a space capsule carrying the first American into space. Originally scheduled to take place in October 1960, this was postponed several time and on May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard made America's first sub-orbital spaceflight . By 1965, MSFC had about 7,500 government employees. In addition, most of the prime contractors for launch vehicles and related major items (including North American Aviation , Chrysler , Boeing , Douglas Aircraft , Rocketdyne , and IBM ) collectively had approximately
14883-399: Was the flight deck, in which sat the Space Shuttle's commander and pilot in permanently fixed seats with up to two mission specialists seated behind them in stowable seats. The mission specialist in seat four (located behind and between commander and pilot) served as the flight engineer during ascent and landing, tracking information from CAPCOM and calling out milestones. The mid-deck, which
15006-475: Was transferred to the Orion barge to sail up the river to Marshall Space Flight Center. The tank, not having been designed to hold the weight of an orbiter at an angle, required reinforcements. NASA installed I-beam spokes in the tank at Marshall, in building 4705. Pathfinder ' s weight is concentrated in the tail, though, and the tank required further reinforcements. The tank was then transported over land to
15129-501: Was used for ground crew testing in the Vehicle Assembly Building , Orbiter Processing Facility , and Shuttle Landing Facility . Pathfinder is approximately the same size, shape and weight of an actual orbiter. Using Pathfinder allowed for facilities testing without requiring use of the more delicate and expensive Enterprise . After sitting in storage for many years, the America-Japan Society, Inc. obtained
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