Space Shuttle questions

[Hanna]

I watched the landing of the Discovery today and have a few questions. First, the shuttle landed and there was no movement from within, nor did anyone go out to greet it. If I spent twelve days in space I would want to get out and touch ground again, but the broadcast just cut away and started doing replays of the landing. So how long do the astronauts stay on board after landing and what are they doing? Post flight checks?

Second, the * Discovery *landed in California. How does it get back to Florida?

[Tristan]

There are several reasons that there is no immediate burst of activitiy when it hits the ground…

1. I imagine it’s still pretty warm, having punched through the atmosphere just a short time before. Although I do remember seeing someone pick up a piece of heating tile ceramic while it was still glowing hot, so I could be wrong.

2. After the stress involved in landing, I imagine the pilot just wants to breath for a few. The shuttle handles like a brick with wings, and there is no second chance… if it bungles it’s approach, it crashes, end of movie!

3. You have to make sure the crew hasn’t been taken over by aliens.

The shuttle is loaded onto the back of a modified 747 and flown back to Florida. This costs us $750,000 to do, according to CCN online.

Now see, when I have my private industry launch complex, we’ll just load it up and send it back up for a flight, and then it could land back in Florida. of course, if I were in charge, I would have used rockets from the beginning…

[LIONsob]

I think that the main reason NASA lets the shuttle sit for a few minutes after landing is to give any leaked propelant from the small rocket engines (R.C.S.) that are used to stear the shuttle a chance to disapate.
From what I hear its pretty toxic stuff.
Peace
LIONsob

[ElvisL1ves]

*Originally posted by LIONsob *
I think that the main reason NASA lets the shuttle sit for a few minutes after landing is to give any leaked propelant from the small rocket engines (R.C.S.) that are used to stear the shuttle a chance to disapate.
From what I hear its pretty toxic stuff.

That’s true. The crew is also busy going through their shutdown checklist, flipping switches and so forth. The whole process takes about an hour.

[Johnny_L.A]

When I worked at Edwards AFB on the Shuttle Support Team (I sent rawinsonde data to Houston), I was told that the crew remained in the shuttle so the toxic fumes could be cleared as LIONsub said. I think they remove any residual fuel from the tanks.

NASA-Dryden has weekday tours and you might see the 747 there. It’s a short tour, and aside from the static displays what you see depends on what’s on the ramp; but it’s cool to be there. Plus they have a nice little gift shop.

[AWB]

*Originally posted by Tristan *
**The shuttle is loaded onto the back of a modified 747 and flown back to Florida. This costs us $750,000 to do, according to CCN online. **

Then why don’t they land it in Florida and save us a few bucks? If they have the facilities at Kennedy Space Center to land a 747 with a shuttle attached, can’t the shuttle alone land there too?

[malden]

AWB, the weather in Florida has been unsuitable for several days (high winds). The crew waited for a couple of days to see if there was any improvement, but there was no change, so they requested the change in landing site.

[douglips]

*Originally posted by AWB *
**

*Originally posted by Tristan *
**The shuttle is loaded onto the back of a modified 747 and flown back to Florida. This costs us $750,000 to do, according to CCN online. **

Then why don’t they land it in Florida and save us a few bucks? If they have the facilities at Kennedy Space Center to land a 747 with a shuttle attached, can’t the shuttle alone land there too? **

To clarify a bit what malden said, they do land in Florida. Every flight since 1996, in fact. This time the weather sucked in FL, so they landed in CA. It’s worth the million bucks to not kill another crew of astronauts and lose an N billion dollar orbiter.

[Zenster]

The crew does have to wait before they pop the hatch. IIRC they also bring up a cryogenic tank truck and pump LN2 through the hull so as to avoid the thermal pulse from re-entry soaking down into the airframe and doing a lot of damage.

There is a famous picture of a ceramic tile fresh from the furnace being held by its corners barehanded while the center of it still glows red hot.

All in all, the shuttle is a marvel of engineering and a well deserved source of national pride.

[KCB615]

From NASA themselves:

ORBITER GROUND TURNAROUND
Spacecraft recovery operations at the nominal end-of-mission landing site are supported by approximately 160 Space Shuttle launch operations team members. Ground team members wearing self-contained atmospheric protective ensemble suits that protect them from toxic chemicals approach the spacecraft as soon as it stops rolling. The ground team members take sensor measurements to ensure the atmosphere in the vicinity of the spacecraft is not explosive. In the event of propellant leaks, a wind machine truck carrying a large fan will be moved into the area to create a turbulent airflow that will break up gas concentrations and reduce the potential for an explosion.
A ground support equipment air-conditioning purge unit is attached to the right-hand orbiter T-0 umbilical so cool air can be directed through the orbiter’s aft fuselage, payload bay, forward fuselage, wings, vertical stabilizer, and orbital maneuvering system/reaction control system pods to dissipate the heat of entry.

A second ground support equipment ground cooling unit is connected to the left-hand orbiter T-0 umbilical spacecraft Freon Coolant loops to provide cooling for the flight crew and avionics during the postlanding and system checks. The spacecraft fuel cells remain powered up at this time. The flight crew will then exit the spacecraft, and a ground crew will power down the spacecraft.

AT KSC, the orbiter and ground support equipment convoy move from the runway to the Orbiter Processing Facility.

If the spacecraft lands at Edwards, the same procedures and ground support equipment are used as at the KSC after the orbiter has stopped on the runway. The orbiter and ground support equipment convoy move from the runway to the orbiter mate and demate facility at Edwards. After detailed inspection, the spacecraft is prepared to be ferried atop the Shuttle carrier aircraft from Edwards to KSC. For ferrying, a tail cone is installed over the aft section of the orbiter.

In the event of a landing at an alternate site, a crew of about eight team members will move to the landing site to assist the astronaut crew in preparing the orbiter for loading aboard the Shuttle carrier aircraft for transport back to the KSC. For landings outside the United States, personnel at the contingency landing sites will be provided minimum training on safe handling of the orbiter with emphasis on crash rescue training, how to tow the orbiter to a safe area, and prevention of propellant conflagration.

NASA had a better description than that of what exactly goes on during this process, with pictures and other goodies, but exhaustive use of their search engine didn’t turn up what I was looking for.

[Bear_Nenno]

so they landed in CA. It’s worth the million bucks to not kill another crew of astronauts and lose an N billion dollar orbiter.

13 billion, I believe.

[Hanna]

Thanks for the answers

[TampaFlyer]

> If they have the facilities at Kennedy Space Center to land a 747 with a shuttle attached, can’t the shuttle alone land there too?

The 747 can land on a shorter runway than the shuttle. The 747 also has engines, so it can abort a landing & go somewhere else if necessary. The shuttle cannot- it is essentially a heavy glider when it lands, no second chances.