The Space Shuttle orbiter was a partly reusable system to place payloads in low Earth orbit. The components included the orbiter vehicle, a pair of recoverable solid rocket boosters, and an expendable external tank. The Shuttle was launched vertically like a conventional rocket, with the boosters and tank being jettisoned before the vehicle reached orbit. At the conclusion of the mission, the Shuttle fired its orbital manoeuvring system rockets to drop out of orbit and re-enter the atmosphere. The orbiter module was only an "aircraft" for the very last phase of its flight, as the world's heaviest, most expensive "glider", with a minimal low aspect double delta wing, relatively undersized for the fuselage. On re-entry, the orbiter would be flying backwards and inverted, before flipping to a more conventional orientation. At about 40,000ft, at Mach 25 (18,000 m.p.h.), the air density began to affect the vehicle, flying at 40 degrees nose-up, to increase drag and manage heating.
No comments:
Post a Comment