 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 ] Next Last |
| Space Shuttles |
|
Enterprise visited pad 39-A in launch configuration 20 months before the first Shuttle launch. Photo courtesy of NASA.
The Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise (NASA Designation: OV-101) was the first Space Shuttle built for NASA. It was initially constructed without engines or a functional heat shield and was therefore not capable of space operations without a refit. It was intended to be the second space shuttle to fly after the Space Shuttle Columbia even though Enterprise was built first; however, it was found to be cheaper to refit a test article (STA-099) into the Space Shuttle Challenger. Similarly, it was considered for refit to replace Challenger, but Space Shuttle Endeavour was built from spares instead.
Originally planned to be called Constitution, the test vehicle was renamed following a write-in campaign, after the starship featured on the television show Star Trek, which in turn was named for the various ships named USS Enterprise. Most of the cast of the original series, as well as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were on hand at the dedication ceremony, and the show's theme music was played. Ironically, a mural in the captain's office in depicts this Space Shuttle as one of the starship's own namesakes, and images in the opening credits of the series pay similar tribute. Oddly, later pictured a model of the International Space Station with the Space Shuttle Enterprise docked with it, despite the fact that Enterprise has never been fitted for launch into space.
Enterprise banks on its second Approach and Landing Test, September 13, 1977. Photo courtesy of NASA.
Enterprise was used by NASA for a variety of ground and flight tests intended to validate aspects of the shuttle program. The initial nine-month testing period was referred to by the acronym ALT for "Approach and Landing Test". These tests included a maiden "flight" on February 18February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 316 days remaining (317 in leap years). Events 3102 BC Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga. 1478 George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of, 1977 atop a Boeing 747The Boeing 747 also popularly known as the jumbo jet is the second largest passenger airliner after Airbus A380. Until the first commercial flight of the A380 in 2006, however, it remains the largest aircraft in commercial service. The four-engine 747, pr shuttle carrier aircraft (SCA) to measure structural loads and ground handling and braking characteristics of the mated system. Ground tests of all orbiter subsystems were carried out to verify functionality prior to atmospheric flight.
The mated Enterprise/SCA combination was then subjected to five test flights with Enterprise unmanned and unactivated. The purpose of these test flights was to measure the flight characteristics of the mated combination. These tests were followed with three test flights with Enterprise manned in order to test the shuttle flight control systems.
Finally, Enterprise underwent five free flights where the craft separated from the SCA and was landed under astronaut control. These tests verified the craft's flight characteristics and were carried out under several aerodynamic and weight configurations.
Following the ALT program, Enterprise was ferried between several NASA facilities to configure the craft for vibration testing. Ultimately it was mated with an external tank and solid rocket boosters and tested in a launch configuration.
With the completion of critical testing, Enterprise was partially disassembled to allow certain components to be reused in other shuttles, then underwent a world tour visiting FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents., GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east, ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer, the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly, Canada, and the US states of California, Alabama, and Louisiana. It was also used to fit-check the never-used shuttle launch pad at Vandenberg AFB, California. Finally, on November 18, 1985, Enterprise was ferried to Washington, D.C., where it became property of the Smithsonian Institution.
Tourists visit Enterprise on display at the Smithsonian hangar near Dulles Airport.
Enterprise was at the Smithsonian's hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport before being moved to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles, where it is on display.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|