Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What makes you say that the Shuttle was the worse spacecraft ever operated? What should have been done instead?
"Worst" may be a little harsh, but the Shuttle is a relatively unsafe, inefficient design.
From the top of my head, safety:
Solid rocket boosters can't be stopped or throttled.
Crew capsule right next to the fuel/oxidizer tank.
Main engines can't be separated from the crew compartment - a catastrophic main engine failure dooms the crew.
All of the above leads to a flight profile with no abort option for a good part of the time.
Efficiency:
The shuttle carries both payload and crew in the same orbiter. Heavy payloads can go in a non-man-rated system at much lower prices.
You're carrying wings, control surfaces, landing gear etc. to orbit and back. And because you're carrying crew and payload in one vehicle, it's a big vehicle needing large wings etc. That's basically lost lifting capacity.
The design is overly complex. The main engines are off-axis from their fuel/oxidizer tanks, so as they consume fuel, the center of gravity changes and the engines need to correct for this. The lifting forces go all over the place - solid rockets, main engines, tank and orbiter all have to transfer forces in a complex dynamic setup. In a classic stack, the engines are directly underneath the fule tanks. Much easier.
Old-fashioned capsule design. It works. You can make the capsule and at the very least your first stage reusable. If landing on an airstrip is a requirement, put the (small, crew-only) winged orbiter on top of the stack with a proper escape system.
It's no coincidence that NASA went back to their roots with Constellation. Too bad they decided to build their man-rated launcher from Shuttle spare parts.
The Russians have been ferrying items up to the space station for years, and since they don't have a leader like obama their space program will continue for many years.....
"Worst" may be a little harsh, but the Shuttle is a relatively unsafe, inefficient design.
From the top of my head, safety:
Solid rocket boosters can't be stopped or throttled.
Crew capsule right next to the fuel/oxidizer tank.
Main engines can't be separated from the crew compartment - a catastrophic main engine failure dooms the crew.
All of the above leads to a flight profile with no abort option for a good part of the time.
Efficiency:
The shuttle carries both payload and crew in the same orbiter. Heavy payloads can go in a non-man-rated system at much lower prices.
You're carrying wings, control surfaces, landing gear etc. to orbit and back. And because you're carrying crew and payload in one vehicle, it's a big vehicle needing large wings etc. That's basically lost lifting capacity.
The design is overly complex. The main engines are off-axis from their fuel/oxidizer tanks, so as they consume fuel, the center of gravity changes and the engines need to correct for this. The lifting forces go all over the place - solid rockets, main engines, tank and orbiter all have to transfer forces in a complex dynamic setup. In a classic stack, the engines are directly underneath the fule tanks. Much easier.
Old-fashioned capsule design. It works. You can make the capsule and at the very least your first stage reusable. If landing on an airstrip is a requirement, put the (small, crew-only) winged orbiter on top of the stack with a proper escape system.
It's no coincidence that NASA went back to their roots with Constellation. Too bad they decided to build their man-rated launcher from Shuttle spare parts.
+1 to everything, plus the cost of operating the space shuttle is outrageous compared to what it actually does. They wanted the space shuttle to be a reusable vehicle and instead every time they have to launch they disasemble, replace, fix, refix, doublecheck, triplecheck, monitor, comission, approve, etc etc etc.
The other thing with the capsule design, if all else fails during the reentry it can just go ballistic and still save the crew, since a capsule is a naturally stable object. A spaceplane like the shuttle needs active computer controls to spread the load during the reentry... its an equivalent of taking a boat on a highway, space is a different medium compared to Earth's atmosphere and it requires a different design.
+1 to everything, plus the cost of operating the space shuttle is outrageous compared to what it actually does. They wanted the space shuttle to be a reusable vehicle and instead every time they have to launch they disasemble, replace, fix, refix, doublecheck, triplecheck, monitor, comission, approve, etc etc etc.
The other thing with the capsule design, if all else fails during the reentry it can just go ballistic and still save the crew, since a capsule is a naturally stable object. A spaceplane like the shuttle needs active computer controls to spread the load during the reentry... its an equivalent of taking a boat on a highway, space is a different medium compared to Earth's atmosphere and it requires a different design.
Since the Shuttle program is nearing it's end I fail to see the point...the thread is about the I.S.S. and the new Japanese rockets picking up the "slack" until our country gets it's s**t together.
Maybe America no longer needs that type of vehicle anymore.... We have nothing to prove to the world, we are the best in space and will remain #1 for decades to come.
Right or wrong space is being militarized, and we are the cutting edge in that dept.
Some posters are on ignore..........Here is a cool link with an animated sequence of the assembly of the International Space Station in sequential order>>>>>> USATODAY.com feature
International cooperation and joint effort does not come easy here on earth, and will require more hard work and commitments from all nations to make it work on the ISS. It is its only hope for success. It seems to work when individuals from different countries learn to know each other and form relationships. Maybe we need to be thrown together more here on earth. After all earth is our first ISS!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
