orbiter, the part that has wings like an airplane. When a space shuttle launches, the
orbiter is attached to a huge fuel tank that contains liquid fuel. On the sides of the fuel tank
are two largebooster rockets.
Figure23.31shows the stages of a normal space shuttle mission. The launch takes place at
Cape Canaveral, in Florida. The booster rockets provide extra power to get the orbiter out
of Earth’s atmosphere. When they are done, they parachute down into the ocean so they can
be recovered and used again. When the fuel tank is empty, it also falls away, but it burns
up in the atmosphere. Once in space, the orbiter can be used to release equipment such as
a satellite or supplies to the International Space Station, to repair existing equipment such
as the Hubble Space Telescope, or to do experiments directly on board the orbiter.
Figure 23.31: In a typical space shuttle mission, the orbiter takes off like a rocket and lands
like an airplane. ( 15 )
When the orbiter is done with its mission, it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere. As it passes
through the atmosphere, the outside of the orbiter heats up to over 1,500oC. The rockets
do not fire during re-entry, so the shuttle is more like a glider than a regular airplane.
Pilots have to steer the shuttle to the runway very precisely. Space shuttles usually land
at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, or at Edwards Air Force Base in
California. However, if weather is bad at both these landing sites, a shuttle can land at one
of many backup sites around the world. It can later be hauled back to Florida on the back
of a jet airplane.
Space Shuttle Disasters
The space shuttle program has been very successful. Space shuttles have made possible many
scientific discoveries and other great achievements in space. However, the program has also
had some tragic disasters.