Showing posts with label Space Shuttle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space Shuttle. Show all posts

May 26 - Happy Birthday, Sally Ride

  Posted on May 26, 2022     


This is an update of my post published on May 26, 2011:


Yeah! 

The first American woman in space and - at the time of her first flight - the youngest American ever sent into orbit—

—and this "first" and "youngest" had a cool name like “Sally Ride”???!!! 

NASA couldn't have planned it better!

Born on this day in 1951 in Los Angeles, California, Ride became a nationally ranked tennis player in high school, earned double Bachelor's degrees from Stanford in physics and English, and went on to earn her Master's and PhD from the same prestigious university. Her research was in astrophysics and free electron laser physics.

A bit of an over-achiever, I think!

NASA was looking for more astronaut trainees, and Ride was one of around 8,000 people to answer a newspaper ad for the position. (A newspaper ad? Really?) Of course, NASA snatched her up.






Ride's first Space Shuttle flight was in 1984, and both flights that she participated on were on the Space Shuttle Challenger. 

Ride was NOT on board the Challenger in 1986. Instead, she was training for her third mission in space - and was as horrified as the rest of us when the Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing its seven crew members. (Two of the crew members were women, and one of them, Christa McAuliffe, was the first member of the Teacher in Space Project.) Sally Ride participated in the commission that investigated the Challenger disaster.

After her time with NASA, Ride became a physics professor, served on a variety of commissions and boards, and began her own company to promote science to kids, especially girls.  One thing the company does is to put on festivals for girls from fifth to eighth grades—festivals with booths, activities, food, and music.




Sadly, Ride died of pancreatic cancer when she was just 61 years old.

Watch two short videos about Sally Ride. 

Want more? Here is a short bio. 







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November 12 - First Salvage Operation in Space!

  Posted on November 12, 2021


This is an update of my post published on November 12, 2010:




On this date in 1984, U. S. astronauts Joseph Allen, Dale Gardner, and Anna Fisher were able to successfully salvage a satellite that had not reached its proper orbit.

During the fourteenth flight of the Space Shuttle program, STS-51A, two satellites were deployed (one Canadian and one American). Then astronauts Allen and Gardner performed an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) space walk to retrieve an Indonesian satellite, Palapa B-2. The satellite had been deployed by a Space Shuttle mission earlier that year but had not reached geostationary orbit because its kick motor had malfunctioned.


This photo shows the "cradles" for the Palapa B-2 and the Westar 6 satellites.










Allen inserted a device known as a “Stinger” into one of the motor nozzles, and the rotation of the satellite was slowed down to 1 RPM. At this point Fisher tried to use the Shuttle's robotic arm to grapple the satellite. The attempt failed. Allen succeeded where the robot had failed and, with the help of Gardner and Fisher via the robotic arm, was able to maneuver the satellite into the cradle.

The photo below shows Allen manhandling the satellite. Remember, no gravity means no weight--but the mass of the satellite means that there is still plenty of inertia. It's hard to get big things moving, and it's hard to get them to stop moving, too!


The next day the shuttle crew salvaged another satellite, Westar 6, that had the same deployment date and the same kick motor malfunction. This salvage effort went more smoothly and quickly, although Gardner used the same muscle power technique to capture the satellite.


The picture above shows Dale Gardner cracking a joke during his space walk, holding up a “For Sale” sign in front of the salvaged goods. Indeed, Westar 6 was sold to China for relaunch, and Palapa B-2 was also later relaunched on behalf of Indonesia.


What is a geostationary orbit? And what about a geosynchronous orbit?

A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit that matches the Earth's rotation, so that it always returns to the exact same spot in the sky at exactly the same time in the day.

A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit that is circular and positioned above the equator. This kind of orbit insures that the satellite is always in one fixed location above the Earth's surface. Communications satellites are often placed in geostationary orbits so that the antennas that communicate with them do not have to move.



A geostationary orbit is sometimes called a Clarke orbit because author Arthur C. Clarke first proposed the notion of using such an orbit for communications satellites. If you have satellite TV, your television probably communicates with a geostationary satellite.


Funny photos in space?

Gardner isn't the only astronaut to joke around from on high. NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman filmed an interview with comedian Stephen Colbert from the International Space Station,  Alan Shepard hit some golf balls on the moon and joked that they went miles and miles and miles (but it really might have gone about a mile!), and astronauts routinely have fun in zero-G.
















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August 12 - On this date in space travel...

Posted on August 12, 2020

August 12, 1960:

NASA's first successful communications satellite was launched. Called Echo1A, it was a "passive" communications satellite, because this metalized balloon-like spacecraft merely reflected microwave signals - bouncing them from one spot on Earth to another - rather than actively receiving and transmitting signals.

Echo 1A was nicknamed a satelloon!


August 12, 1977:

NASA's first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

What does "free flight" mean? It certainly wasn't without monetary cost! But before the Space Shuttle was launched into space, its ability to taxi down an airstrip and to fly was tested - both on its own and when mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).

The first tests were called "captive tests," and these were when the Space Shuttle was attached to the SCA. The Shuttle wasn't doing any of the flying on these tests. Only after the Shuttle passed several captive tests did a free flight occur. The Shuttle was mated to SCA for take off and carried up to a fairly high altitude, where it was jettisoned away from the SCA. The crew on the Shuttle supervised a gliding approach to the runway and landed the Shuttle.


The Enterprise was the prototype Space Shuttle but was built without engines or a functioning heat shield. It was not capable of space flight, and it was a bit lighter than functional Space Shuttles. So after it passed its free flight tests, actual Space Shuttles had to be tested. 


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