The Insane Engineering of Orbit
TLDRThe script gives a detailed account of the Space Shuttle's engineering and operations, from the fiery ascent involving solid rocket boosters and main engines, to accomplishing tasks in orbit using systems like the Canadarm and reaction control thrusters. It highlights innovative capabilities like the reusable thermal protection system enduring reentry, and the challenging orbital rendezvous and repair of satellites. The dangerous hypergolic propellants used are examined. The summary conveys the immense complexity required for the Space Shuttle to serve as a mobile space laboratory, construction platform, and launch system over its 30-year history.
Takeaways
- 🚀 The Space Shuttle was propelled through the atmosphere by two solid rocket boosters and three main engines, relying on a large external tank for fuel.
- 🕹️ After depleting its fuel, the external tank was jettisoned, marking the transition to weightlessness and the beginning of the mission in orbit.
- 🛡️ The orbiter served as a versatile tool, equipped with a reaction control system for maneuvering and capable of carrying large payloads like the Hubble Space Telescope.
- 🔮 Hypergolic fuels, which ignite on contact without needing an ignition source, were used for reliability despite their toxicity.
- 🕖 The orbiter's design included 44 reaction control thrusters and a mechanical system for lowering the landing gear, to avoid complications from space radiation.
- 📺 The Space Shuttle's windows were engineered for durability against space debris and temperature extremes, with multiple layers for protection.
- 🚨 The orbiter had a complex temperature control system, relying on radiators in the payload bay doors, which had to be opened shortly after reaching orbit.
- 👩🚀 Astronauts performed various tasks in orbit, including capturing and repairing satellites, using the Canadarm and spacewalks for precise operations.
- 🚂 The Orbital Maneuvering System allowed for significant velocity adjustments, using the same hypergolic fuels as the reaction control system.
- 📈 The shuttle's innovative engineering included a star tracker for navigation, a unique docking system for international cooperation, and advanced life support systems.
Q & A
What fuel and oxidizer combination was used in the forward reaction control system?
-The forward reaction control system used nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizer and monomethyl hydrazine as the fuel. This combination is hypergolic, meaning the substances spontaneously ignite on contact without an ignition source.
Why was the payload bay so large on the space shuttle?
-The payload bay was designed to be 18.3 meters long and 4.6 meters wide, in part to accommodate large payloads like the Hubble Space Telescope. The largest payload carried weighed 22.7 tonnes.
How did the shuttle protect the crew cabin windows during re-entry?
-The window structure had multiple layers of glass to withstand different conditions. There was a pressure pane to withstand cabin pressure, a thermal pane to resist high temperatures, and a redundant center pane as a failsafe.
What system provided fine maneuvering control?
-The orbiter had 6 smaller vernier thrusters capable of producing as little as 111 Newtons of thrust. These allowed for precise maneuvering near other spacecraft.
How did astronauts sleep in the weightless environment?
-Astronauts could strap themselves to the walls, but most chose to loosely strap into seats or sleep in lightweight cloth bags attached to the walls or ceiling.
What was the maximum speed of the Canadarm?
-The loaded Canadarm had a maximum speed of just 6 centimeters per second due to the dangers of inertia in space.
How was the airlock configured to allow 3 astronauts to spacewalk?
-Normally only designed for 2, the third astronaut entered upside down without life support attached. This allowed all three to exit through the narrow airlock.
Why were the payload doors difficult to close?
-Thermal warping prevented the doors from properly latching. Entering a barbecue rotation mode equalized temperatures so they could try again.
What material were the orbiter's windows made from?
-The pressure pane used aluminosilicate glass. The thermal pane used fused silica glass, the same as laboratory glassware.
How fast was the shuttle traveling at re-entry?
-The shuttle reached speeds between 7-8 km/s, or over 30 times the speed of sound, at re-entry.
Outlines
🚀 Powering Through the Atmosphere
The opening paragraph describes the Space Shuttle's ascent into space in the first 9 minutes after launch. It details the multiple propulsion systems powering the ascent, including the solid rocket boosters and main engines, as well as the jettisoning of the external tank once its fuel is spent.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Space Shuttle
💡orbiter
💡payload
💡rendezvous
💡EVA
💡re-entry
💡canadarm
💡life support
💡fuel cell
💡reusable
Highlights
The Space Shuttle was a mobile laboratory, a home in space, with tools for astronauts to survive and complete tasks in space.
The fuel and oxidizer were extremely toxic, producing ominous orange clouds that could fill lungs with fluid and interfere with oxygen transport in the blood.
The propellants ignited spontaneously on contact without an ignition source, making them reliable and easy to precisely control thrust.
Landing gears were lowered manually to prevent a computer glitch from accidentally deploying them in orbit with no way to retract them.
Windows had multiple durable glass layers to withstand debris impacts and reentry heating while still transmitting light.
The payload bay doors were the largest aerospace composite structure, made of graphite/epoxy to reduce weight by 408 kg over aluminum.
A main engine hydrogen leak during ascent led to a policy change, now requiring damaged parts to be replaced rather than just deactivated.
The Canadarm was strong enough to move 30 tonnes in space but too weak to hold up its own 430 kg weight on Earth.
Three astronauts squeezed into the airlock, one upside down without life support, to perform an unprecedented three-person spacewalk.
Coast Guard helicopter pilots were ideal for operating the Canadarm due to the similar skills of simultaneously controlling multiple axes.
The arm used a simple, self-centering wire system to grab payload attachment pins, pulling them into place with lobed cutouts.
Payload bay doors wouldn't latch closed due to thermal distortions, requiring an even heating "barbecue mode" rotation to get them to close.
Upon reentry the Shuttle reached 30 times the speed of sound, requiring innovative combinations of aerospace and aviation technologies.
1650°C peak temperatures were withstood while transitioning the orbiter from hypersonic flight to a runway landing glide.
The final descent and landing phase will be detailed in an upcoming third episode covering reentry engineering.
Transcripts
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