space-shuttle

Touchdown between 190 kias ± 5 (220 mph ±6), according to https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/landing101.html

Check out some pilot point-of-view landings of real space shuttles: https://youtu.be/-UiFwq01tyw , https://youtu.be/kkjDr5-I5-s,

See also https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/mission_profile.html which says, "approximately 14-degree angle of attack … at approximately 83,000 feet altitude, 2,500 feet per second (descent?), Mach 2.5, and 52 nautical miles (59 statute miles) from the landing runway."

Note: at 5 minutes before landing the shuttle is 25 miles from runway, just getting below speed of sound (667 kias = 768mph). Glide slope 19° (jet liners use 3°) with nose down 21° and sink rate 10k fpm(120 mph!) until 2,000 feet, then raise the nose to slowdown, and touch down with nose UP 15-20°. Speed brakes (3=0ff, 4=On) are crucial!

The "mission profile" page, above, specifies

• "approach & landing phase begins at about 10,000 feet altitude at an equivalent airspeed of 290 knots, (plus or minus 12), 6.9 nautical miles (7.9 statute miles) from touchdown. ... minus 19- to 17-degree glide slope, aimed at a target 0.86 nautical mile (1 statute mile) in front of the runway. The spacecraft's speed brake is positioned to hold the proper velocity. The descent rate in …approach & landing > 10k' per minute.." and 19° means drop 1 unit for every 2.7 unit forward. (2.7 goes into 9 approx 3.3 times, so should 10nm approach start at 3.3 nm (19.8k') altitude because we aim for a point a mile before runway?) Note: does X-plane's shuttle have speed brakes?

• "At 1,750 feet above ground level, a preflare maneuver is started to position the spacecraft for a 1.5-degree glide slope in preparation for landing with the speed brake positioned as required. The flight crew deploys the landing gear at this point.

• "The final phase reduces the sink rate of the spacecraft to less than 9 feet per second. (<540 fpm) Touchdown occurs approximately 2,500 feet past the runway threshold at a speed of 190 ± 6 knots (220± 7 mph)." [

(My speculation before finding mission_profile: The last 10 miles average almost 300 kias. Cos(20°) and Cos(19°) is 0.94 so ground speed average 0.94 x 300 = 282k. Sin(20°) is 0.34, and Sin(19°) = 0.33 and I estimated wanting 19.8k' (3.2nm) when 10 nm from touchdown. [X-plane 11 gave me 1,900 when 10 miles out, less than 3° , and I only covered 5 miles but might have been able to stretch glide a little. Tried 24k' and 14k' and 12k' at 10 miles out: much too high. Even 8k' was high. 20° nose down got me to 350+kias & overshot by miles trying to bleed off that speed. Hmm, 6k' and 8k' were too low, at least with 280k starting speed? Are they better at 350k starting speed? ( There are flaps that are unhappy at speed--I didn't get yelled at at 350 kias but got yelled at 450kias.) When ten miles out field is down below and bigger than you'd expect: 30% of HUD view.

Note: xplane's glideslope in map is vertically exaggerated: their 3° looks more like 15°.

Videos of shuttle landings from cockpit/HUD.

Excellent visual quality HUD w/ 270 turn and final: https://youtu.be/USPQBNAzpFM (hmmm, might this be from a simulator, but with real cockpit voices?)

https://youtu.be/a4TNlyTdETw Shuttle Landing STS-98, 2001 Feb 20, Edwards AFB rwy 22; Pilot Mark "Roman" Polansky; Commander Kenneth "Taco" Cockrell; Mission & Landing Specialist Marsha Ivins. This one is blurry, hard to read screen.

Speed.k Alt.ft Note

295 5000 "keep the nose low for guidance"

300 4000

300 3000 "speed brakes"

315 2000

300 1000 landing gear

230 10 "keep it off"

220 0 "touchdown"

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Note: https://youtu.be/Jb4prVsXkZU explanation shows shuttle does "Heading Alignment Cone" 270° turn in the 20k's to adjust altitude and be lined up for runway by 10k'. The 20° glidepath flown at 345 mph with descent rate over 10k'/min. Includes night landing HUD, clear numbers.

Has link to http://www.f-sim.com which resolves to https://www.skytale-studios.com which has shuttle sims for ios and android and oculus.

https://youtu.be/JBk6lCikqkQ higher res HUD form sts-125 to Hubble, with Scott "Scooter" Altman. Cockpit voices include "Megan". Crew includes John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino

Speed.k Alt.ft Note

300 10,000 "body flaps"

300 7,000

300 5,000

300 3,000 "speed brakes" & "de-clutter"

300 2,000 "approaching pre-flare"

317 400 "gear down"

292 200

250 50 "fifty, two-fifty"

230 30 "thirty, two-thirty"

220 20 "twenty, two-twenty"

210 10 "ten, two-ten"

200 0 "we're not gong to make the center turn out"

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See https://youtu.be/u3R2gZzhUtQ interview with astronaut (shuttle pilot) Tom Henricks, by AirplaneAcademy.com aviation youtuber Charlie Gasmire: at approx 25:00 the astronaut describes every shuttle landing pilot having at least 1200 practice landings in the altered gulfstream plane that emulated shuttle flight characteristics. Over 1000 practice landings, far out! Also talks at 35:00 about how the shuttle was responsive in pitch but was laggy in roll, and was heavy and of course had no go around option!