For former Space Shuttle fans, this is interesting

[John_Cillis 2,406]

 

[HiFlyer 9,343]

He's funny but sounds a bit nervous in a Peter Parker way...... 🙂

[Orlaam 306]

The ultimate power off landing.  When I was a kid I had this really neat shuttle book that had tons of information in it.  I think it was actually published by NASA.

I still remember the day class was interrupted in junior high, and we began watching the awful coverage of the Challenger explosion.  I always liked the Shuttle launches as a kid.  Not as remarkable as my mom's generation with lunar landings, but interesting nonetheless.  I used to hear the Shuttle communicate with amateur radio operators on 2 meters.  I never tried to get involved into communicating with them.  Too much traffic.  I did talk to Barry Goldwater though, for like 60 seconds, then the frequency (2 meter simplex) was nothing but heterodyne  🙂

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Ever since I took my first flight in a glider I enjoyed the beauty of unpowered flight.  I fly Xplane11's glider all the time.  I like the term "energy management" and by observing the glider pilots that took me aloft I saw how their experience made for easy, comfortable and worry free landings.  Spoilers onboard the gliders would control the descent rate, and the gliders could fly the pattern just as easily as their powered counterparts.

The Space Shuttle was a marvel to energy management, I was so sad when the Columbia disaster happened, the Space Shuttles thermal protection system was always its weakest component and that it failed due to ice falling on it during launch was sad.  The Space Shuttle was unique, as Buran almost was, as it could do things no other spacecraft have done other than the Air Force's unpiloted shuttle, or whatever they call it.  I remember watching the very first Space Shuttle launch in '81 I think it was, and how happy I felt seeing America return to Space, and how elegantly the shuttle rose from the earth into the skies.  Me and my best friend in college talked about it all day.  The Challenger was lost on my parent's wedding anniversary, and I have never forgotten because of that.  I was home with my Mom watching what happened unfold live and I knew something terrible had happened.  Funny I remember 9/11 the same way, except I was home with my wife watching that unfold live and knew something terrible was happening. 

Today we sit on the cusp of Private Enterprise getting us to space again, I am holding out for Blue Origin, my odds on favorite to win the race back to space for the US.  And science fiction somewhat predicts private enterprise getting us deeper into space, as Star Trek did if you follow the movie series closely.  We just need a businessman to invent warp drive, then the Vulcan's will see the warp signature, and the rest will be written in centuries of sequels, lol....

John

[anden145 2,285]

I always liked the Space Shuttle. A pity, that they killed off the project. 

When I saw your topic, I was really hopeful (for a moment) that there was a new Space Shuttle sim underway... I always enjoyed the simulator Space Shuttle Mission - but it's getting kinda old (it's around 10-11 years now). 

Thanks for posting the video.

[Christopher Low 5,339]

Space Shuttle Simulator 2 by Exciting Simulations has been under development for years, and hopefully we should see something in 2019.

[Greggy_D 935]

On 10/6/2018 at 12:34 AM, Cactus521 said:

and that it failed due to ice falling on it during launch was sad.

Actually it was insulating foam off the external tank 

[anden145 2,285]

32 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Space Shuttle Simulator 2 by Exciting Simulations has been under development for years, and hopefully we should see something in 2019.

Really?

Sounds amazing. I was beginning to think it was 'wapor-ware'...

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Orbiter is still a good Space Simulator, free to use, huge learning curve, real time flights, and holds up so well to our technology on our desktops today.   I really loved it, using it over the years and sometimes still try a flight with it or a mission to the ISS.

John

http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/

[simbol 5,819]

It was a very sad day when the Space Shuttle program ended, big fan of all the engineering behind it.

I hope we can see similar Space vehicles in the future.

Regards,
S.

[Christopher Low 5,339]

I was lucky enough to see a Space Shuttle launch live from the Kennedy Space Centre in October 1995. The mission was STS-73 Columbia, and the seventh launch attempt coincided with my Florida holiday. In fact, the mission had been delayed so many times that the second launch pad also had an orbiter on it (STS-74 Atlantis). I observed the launch from the visitors viewing location, which is about six miles from the pad, but with a superb view of the top side of the orbiter as it cleared the tower. I was watching the launch through binoculars, and I was amazed at just how bright the orange flame was from the solid rocket boosters. Much brighter than it appears on TV. I also remember the significant delay before the sound reached us, and the distinctive crackling sound of the boosters when compared to the deep rumble of the SSMEs (Space Shuttle Main Engines).

A very impressive sight!

Edited October 8, 2018 by Christopher Low

[John_Cillis 2,406]

8 hours ago, simbol said:

It was a very sad day when the Space Shuttle program ended, big fan of all the engineering behind it.

I hope we can see similar Space vehicles in the future.

Regards,
S.

Possibly unmanned shuttles like the Air Force's, a shuttle is impractical for long distance space flight.  The shuttle system itself was dangerous and early in the program it was estimated the failure rate would be two or three in every hundred launches.  It also proved to be a more expensive program than originally estimated as many such programs are, whether government or privately funded.  The shuttles were versatile aircraft, but with the advancements in robotics many sat repairs can be done remotely now.  The air force's space plane is interesting although so much is classified on the program.  The Buran would have also been interesting had it developed further, maybe it has if Russia retained the technology.  Space faring has not advanced much, manned spaceflight that is, in the almost sixty years since it began.  The ISS is the culmination of it, at least for now.

John