Description
At 5:57 AM on July 21, 2011, a unique era of manned spaceflight came to an end as the Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down on Earth for the last time. The world’s first - and thus far only - operational spaceplane, over its 30 year career the Shuttle flew 135 missions carrying 355 astronauts from 16 different countries - almost 70% of all the people who have ever travelled into space. Designed as a reusable and reliable “space truck” that took off like a rocket, landed like a plane, and could be quickly refurbished between flights, the Shuttle promised to usher in an era of routine, cost effective, and safe orbital spaceflight.
But while the Shuttle certainly did stellar service to mankind, becoming the iconic face of NASA post-Apollo, the technical and economic reality of the Shuttle program did not live up to its designers’ expectations. Not only was the craft hideously expensive to operate, but it suffered from numerous design flaws that resulted in two two destroyed orbiters and 14 dead astronauts. And while the Shuttle could - and did - land on regular runways, the process was very different from landing a conventional aircraft, the orbiter having no engines of its own and gliding characteristics that can best be likened to a refrigerator.
So, how did astronauts train to perform this most challenging of landings, starting from space, gliding down with all the grace of a rock to a very specific point, where there was no go-around option and the slightest mistake could lead to disaster?
Well I’m glad you asked, because today we’re going to do a deep dive into the awesomeness that was the space shuttle and just how exactly they handled landing the thing.
Author: Gilles Messier
Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Samuel Avila
0:00 Intro
1:40 The Nazi Space Shuttle
7:07 Designing the Space Shuttle
12:00 Landing the Space Shuttle