The Explosive Conclusions

           Out of the many shuttle launches and flights, there were only two times that a shuttle didn’t complete its mission. The space shuttle Challenger exploded a little over a minute after launch and orbiter Columbia exploded on the return flight. Both disasters were very tragic because all crew members on both flights were killed.

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle
Challenger exploded 73 seconds
after launch

            73 seconds after launch, Challenger exploded killing all seven astronauts on board, including a high school teacher who would be the first civilian in space. The Challenger’s cargo were two satellites and equipment that the crew would use to carry out experiments during the mission. The main cause of the explosion was a failure of the aft joint seal in the right SRB due to the cold weather. There was a gas leak in the right rocket motor that was initiated soon after ignition that eventually weakened and penetrated the external tank resulting in an explosion. The actual orbiter Challenger did not explode, in fact it disintegrated. The many structure failures caused the orbiter to break apart. The unusual thing is that, the crew cabin was torn lose from the rest of the shuttle and three minutes later it smashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven crew members.

The Left Bipod Foam Ramp that broke off
82 seconds after lift off and damaged
the shuttles left wing

            The space shuttle Columbia was the oldest shuttle in the fleet of four. It was the first shuttle to be launched into orbit in 1981. But in 2003, Columbia’s problems started right off the bat with the launch. The scary thing is that everybody in the command center knew that when the orbiter came back for landing, it was going to blow up, but they did not tell the crew because they wanted the crew to have a successful mission. On the orbiters return, about 7-8 minutes before complete failure, gauges on Columbia’s left wing, left landing gear brake system and tyre started to loose readings. At 7:59 am, temperature and pressure gauges went off the scale. At 8 am, NASA lost contact with Columbia as the orbiter was flying above central Texas. Investigators have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons for the Columbia disaster was that the tail fin broke apart. Investigators have also said that the reason for the break-up was that a piece of foam from the shuttles external tank, hit the orbiters left wing.

            Both disasters were very tragic, but NASA knew that the shuttle program should not be shut down because of these disasters. These disasters, in fact, helped improve the other space shuttles, so they wouldn’t be put through the same fate. 

The Magic and Wonders of Space

           Astronauts have described space as an “alien” environment where things behave differently than they do on Earth. Some properties of space that makes it so much different than Earth is the fact that space does not have oxygen, and that the gravity is so little that anything in space will experience apparent weightlessness.

During an experiment on a shuttle,
astronauts discovered that flames
break up into flame balls and float
like UFO's

One example of how materials act differently in space is fire. On Earth, when a fire is burning, the fire burns with a teardrop shape because warm air always rises on Earth. However, when a fire is lit on a space shuttle, things are completely different. The fire on the shuttle doesn’t stay in the teardrop shape; instead they break off into flame balls and just float around. The amazing thing is that scientists have not figured out how the fire burns and keeps burning.

Another example of a material that acts differently in space is the human brain. The brain has to adapt to some unusual scenarios in space. Some scenarios when an astronaut are in orbit, there is no up or down and things don’t fall; they float. So, the one question people ask is how does the brain adapt to the apparent weightlessness? Well, the brain, being the incredible thing it already is, does something even more incredible; it creates a model, or a mental set of instructions, which tell the body how to adapt to the weightlessness the body experiences. Scientists have not yet figured out how the brain creates these models, but what they do know is that it is truly magical.

Even flowers and plants react differently to the unusual scenarios of space. The plants and flowers actually smell differently. In 1998, a mini rose was sent into space and when it came back, the rose had developed a distinct aroma that was like nothing on Earth. Just like the flames and the brain, scientists have not figured out why the flowers develop a distinct aroma that is very different than a roses normal odor on Earth.  All of these materials have very strange reactions to the unusual experiences of being in space.

NASA and Their Unmanned Spacecrafts

            NASA has made missions for the space shuttles to launch unmanned spacecrafts to explore the solar system. Some of these spacecrafts include the exploratory probes Magellan, Galileo, and Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

The Magellan probe aboard the
space shuttle above Earth

            The exploratory probe Magellan was launched on May 4, 1989, set for Venus. It was on a mission to obtain near-global radar images of Venus’s surface. The second part of its mission was to obtain a near-global topographic map of Venus, which is a type of map where physical features are arranged. Magellan’s final missions were to obtain near-global gravity field data and to understand the geological structure of Venus. On October 11, 1994, Magellan was commanded to complete its final mission; make a crash landing onto Venus to collect data of Venus’s atmosphere and the performance of Magellan as it descends. The data from Magellan provided NASA with a geological understanding of the planet that is the most similar to Earth. 

Galileo collected data on
the giant of all gas giants, Jupiter

            The exploratory probe Galileo was sent on a mission to collect data and take images of the biggest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. Galileo was launched on October 18, 1989, and it became the first man-made object to fly by an asteroid, to discover a moon of an asteroid, and it provided NASA with the only observation of a comet colliding with a planet. Galileo was the first of two probes to collect data on Jupiter, Cassini was later sent to Jupiter to collect more data. Galileo gave NASA measurements of Jupiter’s atmosphere. Galileo observed some of Jupiter’s many moons, or satellites. It discovered subsurface saltwater on Jupiter’s moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. It also discovered intense volcanic activity on the moon Io. Galileo not only conducted observations on Jupiter, but also on the Jovian system, which is another name for the four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Galileo came to same fate as Magellan. On September 21, 2003, Galileo was deliberately sent down into Jupiter’s incredibly dense atmosphere. According to NASA, Galileo was destroyed to protect one of its many discoveries; a possible ocean beneath Europa’s icy surface.

The Chandra observatory sends back
photos of energy that the Hubble
couldn't see

            The final unmanned spacecraft was the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Chandra was flown into space on July 23, 1999, riding inside of the Space Shuttle, Columbia. Chandra was the third of NASA’s four great observatories; the most famous however was the Hubble telescope. Chandra is operated by the Chandra X-Ray center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it has been sending back data that has advanced the field of X-Ray astronomy. The expected lifetime of Chandra was 5 years, but in September 2001, NASA extended its life to 10 years.  Later, research at the Chandra X-Ray Center showed that Chandra could last for at least 15 years. Chandra is still sending back incredible X-Ray photos while orbiting Earth. Chandra has sent back X-Ray photos of black holes, which you wouldn’t be able to see in a picture from the Hubble because the black hole is black. However, the images from Chandra show energy, so you can see black hole activities, even if you can’t see the black hole.

The Missions of the Shuttle Program

         There are numerous missions that NASA’s space shuttle program completes. One of its missions is to carry a heavy load of supplies into orbit, including parts to be added onto the International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle also retrieves objects from orbit, including satellites and even large loads from the ISS. The shuttle program has made a couple of missions to go repair or add on parts to the Hubble telescope, which is very important to NASA's overall mission. Why did NASA choose to assemble a fleet of shuttles in the first place? NASA’s shuttle program was to be focused mainly on completing the ISS by 2010, after which the shuttle will be retired. However, a few setbacks forced NASA to extend the shuttle programs career until the ISS was complete. The final launch will be Atlantis, which is expected to launch on July 8, 2011.

Space Shuttle

The space shuttle, also called the orbiter, is a transport that NASA uses to carry astronauts and supplies to and from Earth’s orbit and/or the International Space Station (ISS).  The Space Shuttle consists of three main parts that are used to make the shuttles breath-taking adventure into space successful. The first main part is the orbiter. The orbiter is the large white plane and it is the only part of the shuttle that actually goes into orbit around Earth. The orbiter is where the crew lives during their mission and it is also used to carry supplies to and from space. The second main part of the shuttle is the external tank. This fuel tank is the large reddish-orange thing that the orbiter sits on during lift off. The third main part(s) are the two white main rocket boosters that lay on the side of the external tank during lift off. For the first two minutes of the lift off, the twin rocket boosters give off 2,800,000 pounds of force that gets the shuttle off the ground and into the air. The rocket boosters detach from the external tank two minutes into flight. One of NASA's pre-flight preparations is to make sure that these parts are working at no less than 100% because if one of these parts aren't functional, than the whole launch has to be delayed.