NASA - How the shuttle returns to Earth

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How

the shuttle returns to Earth

 

 

 

 

To return to Earth the space shuttle must make a series of

complicated manouevres to align itself into the correct position to achieve a

safe descent.

1. The shuttle flies upside down in orbit

to control its heating.

2. To re-enter the atmosphere, the

shuttle is turned tail first to the direction of travel, and fires its

engines to slow its speed.

3. The orbiter is then flipped

the right way up and enters the top layer of the atmosphere at about a

40-degree angle from horizontal with its wings level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovery touches

down at the Kennedy Space Center in 1998

 

 

 

4. The orientation keeps its black thermal

tiles facing the majority of the heat - as high 1,650C (3,000F) on the

leading edges of the wings and nose.

5. As its speed drops, the shuttle starts to fly more like an aircraft,

using its rudder and wing flaps for control. It banks sharply to slow its speed still further

6. The shuttle falls from a

height of more than 360km at speeds that

top Mach 30, and at an angle of 19 degrees, far steeper than that of a

commercial aircraft. The spacecraft comes to a dead stop half a world a

way from where it began the descent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/4749393.stm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jorge Angelino

 

 

Rua da Sociedade Filarmónica

Perpétua Azeitonense, 29

2925-598 Azeitão

Portugal

 

 

 

 

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