First Launch of Columbia Space Shuttle (STS-1) GPN-2000-000650

First Launch of Columbia Space Shuttle (STS-1)

First Launch of Columbia Space Shuttle (STS-1)

Space Shuttle Photos – The April 12 launch at Pad 39A of STS-1, just seconds past 7 a.m., carries astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen into an Earth orbital mission scheduled to last for 54 hours, ending with unpowered landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

keywords: Space Shuttle stock photos, NASA Photos, Columbia, STS-1

A-1 Test Stand Night Firing GPN-2000-000551

A-1 Test Stand Night Firing

A-1 Test Stand Night Firing

Space Shuttle Photos – The conclusion of a test firing on the A-1 Test Stand illuminates the night sky at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. The A-1 is one of three Test Stands at Stennis used for testing Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME’s).

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Firing in the Fog GPN-2000-000550

Firing in the Fog

Firing in the Fog

Space Shuttle Photos – An eerie layer of fog surrounds the A-1 Test Stand at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi as a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) is test fired.

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Night Time Test Firing at Stennis Space Center GPN-2000-000549

Night Time Test Firing at Stennis Space Center

Night Time Test Firing at Stennis Space Center

Space Shuttle Photos – A Space Shuttle Main Engine, (SSME) test firing lights up the night sky at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. This test occurred on the B-1, SSC’s largest of three test stands used for Shuttle main engine testing.

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Shuttle Enterprise Free Flight GPN-2000-000218

Shuttle Enterprise Free Flight

Shuttle Enterprise Free Flight

Space Shuttle Photos – The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise flies free after being released from NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) over Rogers Dry Lakebed during the second of five free flights carried out at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, as part of the Shuttle program’s Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). The tests were conducted to verify orbiter aerodynamics and handling characteristics in preparation for orbital flights with the Space Shuttle Columbia beginning in April 1981. A tail cone over the main engine area of Enterprise smoothed out turbulent air flow during flight. It was removed on the two last free flights to accurately check approach and landing characteristics. A series of test flights during which Enterprise was taken aloft atop the SCA, but was not released, preceded the free flight tests. The Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle and the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) handled during low-speed flight and landing. The Enterprise, a prototype of the Space Shuttles, and the SCA were flown to conduct the approach and landing tests at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from February to October 1977. The first flight of the program consisted of the Space Shuttle Enterprise attached to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. These flights were to determine how well the two vehicles flew together. Five “captive-inactive” flights were flown during this first phase in which there was no crew in the Enterprise. The next series of captive flights was flown with a flight crew of two on board the prototype Space Shuttle. Only three such flights proved necessary. This led to the free-flight test series. The free-flight phase of the ALT program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle handled in low-speed flight and landing attitudes. For these landings, the Enterprise was flown by a crew of two after it was released from the top of the SCA. The vehicle was released at altitudes ranging from 19,000 to 26,000 feet. The Enterprise had no propulsion system, but its first four glides to the Rogers Dry Lake runway provided realistic, in-flight simulations of how subsequent Space Shuttles would be flown at the end of an orbital mission. The fifth approach and landing test, with the Enterprise landing on the Edwards Air Force Base concrete runway, revealed a problem with the Space Shuttle flight control system that made it susceptible to Pilot-Induced Oscillation (PIO), a potentially dangerous control problem during a landing. Further research using other NASA aircraft, especially the F-8 Digital-Fly-By-Wire aircraft, led to correction of the PIO problem before the first orbital flight. The Enterprise’s last free-flight was October 26, 1977, after which it was ferried to other NASA centers for ground-based flight simulations that tested Space Shuttle systems and structure.

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Endeavour on Runway with Columbia on SCA Overhead GPN-2000-000160

Endeavour on Runway with Columbia on SCA Overhead

Endeavour on Runway with Columbia on SCA Overhead

Space Shuttle Photos – The Space Shuttle Endeavour receives a high-flying salute from its sister Shuttle Columbia, atop NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, shortly after its landing Oct. 12, 1994 at Edwards, California, to complete mission STS-68. Columbia was being ferried from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida to Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, where it will undergo six months of inspections, modifications, and systems upgrades. The STS-68 11-day mission was devoted to radar imaging of Earth’s geological features with the Space Radar Laboratory. The orbiter is surrounded by equipment and personnel that make up the ground support convoy that services the space vehicles as soon as they land.

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Space Shuttle Main Engine Test Firing GPN-2000-000064

Space Shuttle Main Engine Test Firing

Space Shuttle Main Engine Test Firing

Space Shuttle Photos – On the 25th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 (the first moon landing mission) launch, Marshall Space & Flight Center celebrated with a test firing of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) at the Technology Test Bed (TTB). This drew a large crowd who stood in the fields around the test site and watched as plumes of white smoke verified ignition.

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The First Space Shuttle External Tank GPN-2000-000051

The First Space Shuttle External Tank

The First Space Shuttle External Tank

Space Shuttle Photos – The first Space Shuttle External Tank (ET), the Main Propulsion Test Article (MPTA), rolls off the assembly line on September 9, 1977 at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. The MPTA was then transported to the National Space Technology Laboratories (currently called Stennis Space Center) in southern Mississippi where it was used in the static test firing of the Shuttle’s cluster of three main engines. Marshall Space Flight Center was responsible for developing the External Tank. External Tank contains two tanks, one for liquid hydrogen and one for liquid oxygen, and a plumbing system that supplies propellant to the Main Engines of the Space Shuttle Orbiter.

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STS-26 Rollout GPN-2000-000654

STS-26 Rollout

STS-26 Rollout

Space Shuttle Photos – A view from inside bay three of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) shows the Space Shuttle Discovery washed in white xenon light as it makes a nighttime departure from the VAB on its way to Pad 39B. Discovery will fly for mission STS-26 now scheduled for launch in early September. It has a five man crew and the TDRS-C payload. First motion in the Shuttle’s move from the VAB toward the pad came at 12:50 a.m. July 4, 1988.

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STS-36-Rollout-at-Kennedy-Space-Center

Sts 36 Rollout at Kennedy Space Center

Sts 36 Rollout at Kennedy Space Center

Space Shuttle Photos – The STS-36 vehicle and launch platform were rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on January 25 after the shortest stay in the Vehicle Assembly Building since return-to-flight. The distance between the VAB and Pad 39A is about 3.4 miles. Atlantis is being prepared for launch on Mission STS-36 dedicated to the Department of Defense. Launch is currently targeted for February 22.

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