When in orbit the shuttle is positioned so that it is moving nose-first and the top of the shuttle is pointing towards the earth. The shuttle is positioned "bottom up" so that the black bottom will radiate the heat from the sun more effeciently. Step one for the shuttle is to turn around so that it is moving stern-first and then it fires it's engines in order to slow the shuttle so that it will drop out of orbit. Next the shuttle flips over so that it is right-side-up when it enters the atmosphere. Between step three and four the shuttle burns any excess fuel that it may still have so that there is less of a danger of explosion when the fuel tanks get hot durring re-entry. Step four is where the shuttle maintains an angle of about 40 degrees from the vertical and maintains an approach so that the shuttle slows down. After slowing to a speed where the shuttle can maneuver it will "fly" (remember, the shuttle has no more fuel so it has only one chance to land) in some final S shaped curves to slow some more and then land at a designated airport (as shown below).
How Does the Shuttle Turn or Maneuver in Space?
The basic means of movement for the space shuttle can be explained in Isaac Newton's laws F=Ma and for every action, there is an equal and oposite reaction. The force, on the space shuttle, is equal to the mass of the shuttle multiplied by its acceleration. By burning fuel in a rocket engine on the back of the shuttle, a force on the shuttle equal to the mass of fuel being "thrown" out the stern of the craft multiplied by its acceleration. This basic physics formula is very important to the shuttle getting up into space and to the beginning of its deceleration on its return to earth. Thus it has a very real impact on weather the shuttle will survive the trip through the earth's atmosphere back to land. When the shuttle first enters the earth's atmosphere it is traveling at speeds topping 30,000 km/h. The shuttle has to decelerate to 0 km/h after it lands. The acceleration that it must endure to slow the shuttle is an incredibly large force on the structure of the craft.
When the shuttle is entering the atmosphere it must enter at an angle window of only a few degrees.
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Show MoreBottle rockets are great models to examine Newton’s three laws of motion. The bottle rocket will remain on the ground until an unbalanced force, water, thrusts the rocket upward. This is defined by Newton’s first law of motion: an object at rest stays at rest or an object in motion, stays in motion (in the same direction/at the same speed) unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. It is also known as the law of inertia.
A rocket in its simplest form is a chamber enclosing a gas under pressure. A small opening at one end of the chamber allows the gas to escape, and in doing so provides a thrust that propels the rocket in the opposite direction. Newton’s laws can be used to explain this his laws in the simplest terms can be explained like this:
A shuttle is the size of a jetliner, lifts into space using powerful boosters, and returns to Earth as a glider due to its aerodynamic wings. Launching like a rocket, it orbits the earth like a spacecraft and lands like an airplane ("Shuttle Basics," par. 1). It takes eight and a half minutes for the shuttle to reach space, it travels at 17,500 miles per hour, and the crew can see the sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes ("Space Shuttle Program," par. 3). The shuttle consists three main parts: the Orbiter Vehicle, two Solid Rocket Boosters, and the External Tank.
All you need to know about the role physics plays in the flight of an aircraft.
On January 28, 1968 the space shuttle Challenger was deployed from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One minute and thirteen seconds after liftoff the spaceship ignited in mid air and all seven crew members were killed. The cause of the destruction of the challenger was a certain part of rubber that relieves pressure on the side of the actual rocket booster called an O-ring. When a space shuttle as used as the Challenger is about to be used for another mission there should be an even more careful with checking everything before liftoff. The Challenger could have been avoided and there was way too much evidence that shows NASA had some kind of knowledge about the consequences.
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost due to structural failure in the left wing. On take-off, it was reported that a piece of foam insulation surrounding the shuttle fleet's 15-story external fuel tanks fell off of Columbia's tank and struck the shuttle's left wing. Extremely hot gas entered the front of Columbia's left wing just 16 seconds after the orbiter penetrated the hottest part of Earth's atmosphere on re-entry. The shuttle was equipped with hundreds of temperature sensors positioned at strategic locations. The salvaged flight recorded revealed that temperatures started to rise in the left wing leading edge a full minute before any trouble on the shuttle was noted. With a damaged left wing, Columbia started to drag left. The ships' flight control computers fought a losing battle trying to keep Columbia's nose pointed forward.
as the shuttle can go up to speeds way over 100miles per hour during a
On its first day in orbit NASA engineers came to the conclusion that the foam debris that hit the left wing might have caused severe damage to the shuttle and could prevent it from a safe reentry.
Interestingly enough, one can actually change their "terminal" velocity. For instance, if Joe were to jump out of the plane and position in the prone, spread eagle position, his surface area would be at his maximum. Thus the terminal velocity he would reach would be lower than the terminal velocity he would reach if he dove from the plane head first. When Joe transitions from spread eagle to the head first position, his surface area decreases, thus allowing for an increase in speed.
angles of your wrist. Another way to explain this is by the concept of the Bernoulli Effect. According to Kirkpatrick and Wheeler; authors of Physics: A World View, the concept of lift is due to the Bernoulli Effect. They state: “The upper surfaces of airplane wings are curved ...
Ever since I was little I was amazed at the ability for a machine to fly. I have always wanted to explore ideas of flight and be able to actually fly. I think I may have found my childhood fantasy in the world of aeronautical engineering. The object of my paper is to give me more insight on my future career as an aeronautical engineer. This paper was also to give me ideas of the physics of flight and be to apply those physics of flight to compete in a high school competition.
The materials to build a shuttle must be top tier materials. Every time a shuttle launches, some parts are damaged beyond repair and must be replaced. Fuel for a shuttle is also expensive. People must be paid to build the ship and must be paid to work ground control. These expenses, along with others, begin to add up quickly. NASA reported that their average launch costs $450 million (2015, Bray). These funds are being used to do scientific research to help society. Spending that much money just to see space seems ludicrous. However, as Greenberg points out in his cartoon, money has power. A study was done in 1980 to see how many were interested in space tourism. This study found that “over 40 million people would like to take a trip on a space shuttle, and some 55 million would like to take a cruise ship-like space trip” (2015, Chang). In 1994 it was projected that space tourism could bring in about $50 million annually (2015, Chang). Comparing $450 million to the projected intake of $50 million shows just how expensive it would be. $50 million is a large price tag for a suborbital
Lift is generated by the air flow around the plane's wing. This effect is explained mostly by Bernoulli's Principle which states that the pressure of the air decreases as the velocity of the air increases. The design of a plane's wing changes the airflow around the wing's surface. The air has farther to travel over the top of the wing than the air traveling below the wing. Therefore, the air traveling above the wing is traveling at a higher velocity than the air traveling below it. As air flows around the wing, a high pressure region with low air velocity is created below the wing, and a low pressure region with high air velocity is created above the wing. The difference between the two pressures generates the lift force. (JEPPESEN 1-11)
In order for any rocket to fly, it must obey some basic rules of physics. No rocket can escape the cardinal rule that the center of gravity must be in front of the center of pressure.
Projectile motion is the force that acts upon an object that is released or thrown into the air. Once the object is in the air, the object has two significant forces acting upon it at the time of release. These forces are also known as horizontal and vertical forces. These forces determine the flight path and are affected by gravity, air resistance, angle of release, speed of release, height of release and spin