Space Shuttle

In This Lesson

This lesson will focus on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS).  After reviewing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Explain the role of the Space Shuttle and the ISS in advancing science and technology 

• Analyze some of the technological issues and challenges associated with the Space Shuttle, living in space, and future missions to Mars

History of the Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle first flew in 1981, although planning and development for the orbiters began in the 1960s during the Apollo missions.  It was an underfunded project, as much of NASA's support for space exploration dried up once America "beat" the Soviet Union to the Moon (in fact, later Apollo missions to the Moon were eventually cancelled).  Competing goals and missions for those who would use the Space Shuttle fleet resulted in a compromise design focused on transporting satellites and materials into low-orbit, with the assumption that a future base of operations near the Earth could support missions to return to the Moon or explore other regions of space.  Ultimately that base of operations became the International Space Station (ISS), which has enabled thousands of experiments and reams of data to be collected on how humans can live and operate in space.

The Space Shuttle itself is an interesting mix of aerodynamic elements--it is launched into space using disposable rockets, maneuvered while in orbit with thruster jets or by accelerating or decelerating to move to a higher or lower orbit respectively.  The shuttle's design is similar to a delta-wing shape we have studied in other aircraft (e.g. the B2 flown at nearby Whiteman AFB).  The body of the aircraft and the wings both serve as lifting surfaces once the orbiter returns to denser atmosphere at lower altitudes, although the concept of lift does not itself apply in space where gravity is managed by the orbital speed (a specific speed will keep an object in a particular orbit, for example this is how satellites maintain their orbits).  The shuttle's return to Earth from space is a gliding flight path focused primarily on keeping the heat ablative tiles directed down to absorb the heat from hitting atmospheric molecules at over 15,000 mph.  The descent is largely burning-off energy and speed to be able to land at a normal landing speed at either Edwards AFB in California or at Cape Canaveral in Florida.  So the shuttle isn't "flown" so much as it glides back to land on Earth, making it a little different from the aircraft and experiences we have studied so far.

Space Shuttle missions are referenced as STS-118 or STS-45 because STS stands for space transport system.  From the beginning, the shuttle was designed to carry materials into orbit.  Many of the early shuttle missions are classified, although we know generally that they carried Department of Defense payloads into orbit (payloads like satellites, for example).  Some of the more famous shuttle missions carried scientific instruments like the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, or components of the ISS from Japan, Canada, Russia, and the European Space Agency.  

As you are probably aware from the Columbia and Challenger accidents, space flight is inherently dangerous and complex.  There have always been design limitations for the launch rockets that require specific temperatures and conditions to launch (one of the factors that led to the Challenger accident in 1986), but more recently the focus has been on the heat ablative tiles on the shuttle itself.  Damage to these tiles on the Columbia orbiter led to catastrophic failure of the orbiter when it reentered the Earth's atmosphere in 2003.  The Space Shuttle fleet was grounded in 2011 and NASA is exploring other options for traveling to space including the Ares Rocket and private companies like Space X.

Contributions of the Space Shuttle to Science

The Space Shuttle, and research it enabled, has contributed quite a bit to society from directly driving innovation for things like velcro and miniaturized computing technology to indirect benefits like launching critical communications and GPS satellites into orbit or enabling the study of Earth's changing climate.   The Hubble Space Telescope has allowed scientists to look billions of years into the universe's past by studying light from distant stars, and to better understand gravity, dark matter, and black holes.  Experiments both on the shuttle and on the ISS have allowed deeper understanding of human physiology, including the effects of micro-gravity (sometimes colloquially called zero-gravity) on human eyesight, bones, and tissue growth.  One interesting effect of traveling in space is how it permanently changes how bones grow--the internal structural support of bone begins to grow in a new pattern when you go to space, and it continues to grow in that way even when humans return to Earth.  

The International Space Station

Components of the ISS were first launched in 1998, and currently it consists of over two dozen components and modules used for scientific and technology research.  It has been continuously inhabited for 20 years, usually with a crew of three who spend several months to over a year living in space.  You can see a short video here of what life is like in space aboard the ISS.  

NASA has created a summary of ways research on the ISS has benefited people back on Earth.  Students and professionals also have the ability to design experiments to be run by the astronauts in space, which you can explore here.  In short, the Earth images and Lidar mapping of the Earth's surface have given both scientific researchers and historians new information about our planet, and medical advances based on exercise or fluid research have directly benefited patients among hundreds of other projects researching space suit design, water and air purification, and technology that will be needed to explore Mars and other areas of our Solar System.

Additional Resources

If you are interested in reading oral history interviews with some of the designers of the Space Shuttle, like Ivy Hooks, or learning more about Shuttle and ISS missions generally, check out the JSC History Portal.