A 1989 propaganda video describing the Shuttle-C expendable cargo launcher:
[youtube qrfUQMiFPNc]
Be entertained by the clumsy, smarmy “for the children,” the over-use of Holsts’ “The Planets,” the badly outdated computer graphics, the fear of the Soviet Union and the ginormous workstations that could probably be replaced with an Ipod.
I’m surprised it took this long for this photo to become the Astronomy Picture of the Day:
This is a long-duration photo taken from the ISS showing the Atlantis space shuttle orbiter re-entering. Never again will such a photo be possible.
Be sure to check out the high rez, available from the NASA website.
Even Fingers is impressed.
A half-hour Youtube video featuring a May 17, 2011, interview with Bill Woods showing and describing a number of display and wind tunnel models of early Space Shuttle configurations.
It might not play embedded, so here’s the direct link as well.
[youtube GJ_O_6Zqb4s]
A few days back (just before things went to hell out here), I recieved some photos and a first-hand account of the delivery of external tank ET-122 (which is due to be launched on STS-134, the probable next-to-last shuttle flight) to KSC. Something unique about this tank, nicknamed the “Katrina tank” since it was at Michoud when Katrina hit, damaging some of the insulating foam, is that it has “nose art.” The art is on the intertank access door, and the assumption is that it will be left in place through launch. However, normal practice is to foam over the door, so while the art might still be there, it may be hidden behind inches of foam.
Given how twitchy NASA became about foam after Columbia, I have my doubts… I’d bet that the art is stripped over before foam is applied (how well does the foam bond to the art?), or the door might be simply replaced. But it would be interesting to see it launch with the art on display.
I remember this painting from before the Shuttle first flew. Specifically, I remember it being printed across a full newspaper spread on the day the Columbia was to first launch. Yes, I kept that “poster,” and yes, I studied it intently, and yes, I believed that someday soon I’d fly it into space. Ah, to be that young and stupid again…
From microfiche, explaining the blurriness. Note that while the design was broadly similar to what actually got built, it differed in having an airbreathing propulsion system (for self-ferrying and occasional use after re-entry for cross-range extension) and provisions for large solid rocket “abort motors” below the OMS pods. The airlock was also located in the nose.
A large format drawing of an unmanned inter-orbital shuttle, using a NERVA engine and launched atop a Saturn V/INT-21 launch vehicle (with the NERVA possibly carried within the cargo bay of a Space Shuttle). Other companies designed their own versions, but NAR’s design was by far the longest and pointiest. The NERVA engine was designed to be removable and replaceable, with servicing again done in a Shuttle cargo bay. Yeeeeesh.
Photos (courtesy Dennis R. Jenkins) showing a few models of the Shuttle orbiter circa 1973, just before the final configuration was settled upon. Notable differences include hiding the forward RCS jets behind doors and extending the fairing for the OMS pods forward onto the cargo bay doors (presumably an aerodynamics consideration). The moldline in the area of the cockpit also looks a bit different.
The boosters and the external tank are much more different, however. This is presumably due to the model being made by Rockwell, while the boosters were still effectively as-yet undesigned – and unwon – by Thiokol. The external tank certainly looks pretty narrow. The C-5 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft model was probably built by or for Lockheed.
This appears to be the same design, or at least very close, to that shown in paintings HERE.
C’mon, people, y’all ain’t holding up your end of the bargain here. Buy My Stuff, such as aerospace drawings and documents and Aerospace Projects Review. Or you could just Donate. For more posts like this, click on the Unwanted Blog header up top and then click on the “Projects” category to the right (or just click the “Projects” link to the right, if you happen to see it).
Space Drawing Set 20 contains the best of drawing sets 18 & 19, condensed into a single inexpensive package:
McDonnell Douglas drawing 255BJ00050sht1: General Arrangement, Siamese Tank, Delta Wing Orbiter (8154X3231 pixels)
McDonnell Douglas drawing 256-20-0001: General Arrangement Model 256-20B Booster (also shows Model 255 orbiter), 6416X3263 pixels
Martin Marietta drawing 899A2010642: Booster Overall TPS Assembly, 11472X3253 pixels
These show the McDonnell Douglas Model 255, Phase B high crossrange orbiter and the Model 256-20B McDonnell-Douglas/Martin Marietta manned, reusable, flyback Space Shuttle booster from 1971. All drawings are in B&W, and all come with half-size versions for easier viewing and printing. All contained in a single ZIP file.
Space Drawing Set 20 can be purchased for download for $5.50: