SPOILER space, as is customary. Though it might be overkill, for this particular movie.
It’s an odd request, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me the name of the Space Shuttle that crashes in the recent movie, “The Core”? I was curious, but I didn’t want to spend $8 on a movie ticket. Or $2 on a video rental in a year, for that matter.
Well, thanks for your time,
Ranchoth
Just going from memory, but I think it was Endeavour.
[spoiler]tsm is right, it was the Endeavor.
Which, I might add, was coming in at way too shallow a glide angle on its descent into Los Angeles. The Space Shuttle doesn’t so much “glide” as come in under a controlled fall. A normal airliner’s glide angle while coming in for a landing is 2-3 degrees – the Shuttle’s is 20-30 degrees.[/spoiler]
Ah, thanks for the info.
But, if I may ask, did the shuttle…“make it” in the movie, or was it destroyed?
It was heavily banged up, especially the extremities, but it survived.
I think they should have aimed for Dodger Stadium. Glide down onto the grass, providing a nice soft landing, slowing them down enough to a controlled crash into the Dodger dugout, wiping the blue-and-white infidels out. Happy ending for all. 
You know one of the things that irked me about that shuttle landing?
The shuttle’s descent glide-slope. It was way too shallow. The shuttle was shown descending at the same angle an airliner does whet it comes in for a landing, i.e. 2-3 degrees. In real life, the space shuttle’s glide slope is 20-30 degrees, 10 times steeper than an airliner’s.
This is because the space shuttle orbiter’s “wings” provide hardly any lift. The orbiter doesn’t so much “glide” in for a landing as undergo a controlled fall. (It’s aerodynamic characteristics have been likened to a pair of pliers, a bowling ball, and an anvil over the years.)
Maybe in the movie they shallowed up their glide slope by firing their orbital engines and burning their remaining maneuvering fuel. :rolleyes:
Haw-HAW, you people watched the Core!
Um … I only watched it to stare at Hilary Swank’s breasts! Yeah, that’s it, that’s the ticket! I certainly didn’t watch it to nitpick the science or anything geeky like that, nosiree Bob, not me! :o
Yeah, I saw it. My SO wanted to see it. I spent most of the time pointing out errors in geology. Yeah, I’m a dork.
tracer, they don’t show her breasts in the movie. That guy sure thakes his shirt off a lot though.
You know what? I enjoyed that movie! I may be one of only two people who did (my best friend being the second), but I found it to be a fun sci-fi romp. Sure I suspended my belief so much I needed a cherry picker to get it back when the movie was over, but doing that made my $7.50 worth spending.