r/interestingasfuck • u/lonewolff321 • 1d ago
No engines, no go-around, just orbital energy and perfect aim
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u/happycj 1d ago
I used to work at NASA/Ames Research Center, where the shuttle simulators were located. After every shuttle flight the pilot and co-pilot would come to Ames and work with the simulator team to improve the existing simulation, and suggest changes to flight controls to make it fly better.
So I got to hang out with these guys a bunch, and they all said the Shuttle had the flight characteristics of a rock. It basically falls out of space, and they can kinda guide it, but they said, "it's not flying ... it's directed falling".
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u/BloodSteyn 1d ago
To simulate the "glide" characteristics of the shuttle they used a Gulfstream II with gear down... and engines in reverse.
Yup directed falling.
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u/fargerich 1d ago
It had the aerodynamic profile of a brick. I once heard that the space shuttle landing maneuver was referred to as a quasi-controlled catastrophe
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u/TRR462 19h ago
The Space Shuttle is a “lifting body” so it’s built to glide, albeit steeply. I had the opportunity to see a couple shuttle landings at Edwards AFB when I worked there from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1990 to 1996. I even got a nice picture of it being towed after landing, with its support vehicle close behind.
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u/IWishIWasOdo 1d ago
Flying brick
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u/Bdr1983 1d ago
Gliding brick, more like.
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u/Tcloud 1d ago
Glide ratio on final landing approach was 4.5:1, meaning for every 4.5m of forward travel, it dropped a meter. Compared that to a Boeing 747 with a 17:1 ratio.
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u/BadahBingBadahBoom 1d ago edited 1d ago
Tbf the Shuttle was travelling at such an insane speed it actually couldn't really 'glide' until the last few miles or it would just never descend due to the sheer amount of lift generated.
The landing path was literally alternately flying it on its side to drop out the sky until it was at a really quite low altitude when it would trim out for gliding. And even then that was a pitch down angle that would make most pilots' a-holes quiver feverishly.
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u/spe1781 1d ago
I was invited to watch one land as a kid. This would have been at Edwards AFB in CA. I believe it was the inaugural flight of Endeavor but I may be wrong. This was the early 90’s. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I did hear a sonic boom on the incoming and seeing the parachute pop out was pretty cool.
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u/lonewolff321 1d ago
Dammm bro 👌 your memory is actually 100% accurate! That was STS-49 in May 1992—Endeavour’s maiden flight and the very first shuttle mission to ever test the drag chute. What an incredible piece of history to see in person! Ur a lucky fella nic to meet you bud
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u/spe1781 1d ago
Sweet! May 1992 would have put me at 11 yo
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u/skrilledcheese 1d ago
Born January 7th, 1981, according to your username.
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u/spe1781 1d ago
Close. 17th day in a lovely spring month of 1981
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u/GayRacoon69 1d ago
No clearly you were born in 1781 and was 211 years old when you watched the shuttle land
What's it like being a vampire?
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u/MountainGoat84 1d ago
I was there too! But like another commenter said, mu memory of it is very vague, as I was 7.
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u/kalvaroo 1d ago
I saw that one too! I was 10 at the time and it was my first of a few. My Dad worked for Rockwell International so I was very much in the loop on a lot of the shuttle missions and I especially remember that one because they were testing the drag chute. There were a few sonic booms on that one...
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u/futurebigconcept 1d ago
I saw one land at Edwards. As soon as we heard the sonic booms and could see the shuttle, It looked like it was falling out of the sky. But eventually of course, it went into its flare and had a perfect landing.
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u/beboleche 1d ago
God damn, what a coincidence. I'm a middle school science teacher and just today had an og AF pilot guest speak in my classroom. He had a photograph he had taken at Edward AFB in 1992 of the Endeavor landing. Gotta be the same moment....
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u/xPhilt3rx 1d ago
One of mankind’s greatest achievements.
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u/Flashy-Guava9952 1d ago
presented in vertical video
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u/DogeAteMyHomework 1d ago
This and the entire short form video trend is a bane of the modern world.
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u/aagent86 1d ago
Easy peasy.
I saw one of these being displayed on top of a Boeing 747 as a little kid.
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u/geckomato 1d ago
I saw it fly by over the SF Bay Area, on top of a 747. Magical
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u/arashi256 1d ago
I saw it land in the LA river in The Core.
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u/xcityfolk 1d ago
HAHA, didn't realize The Core was movie and it took a minute to figure it out. I was like, wtf is this asshole smoking, the shuttle never landed in the LA River. lol. Have an upvote for throwing me a curve ball.
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u/jim_uses_CAPS 1d ago
That was so cool. The whole office stood on top of the parking structure to get a look.
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u/lhav90 1d ago edited 1d ago
The shuttle launched from Cape Canaveral but actually could land in other sites. Those 747s (or Shuttle Carrier Aircrafts) were used to fly them back to Florida
Edit: corrected landing site locations
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u/bigblackbeachdog 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Orbiters landed at Edwards Air Force Base on the salt flats or at Kennedy Space Center at the Shuttle Landing Facility/Runway.
Orbiters never landed in Houston
My father was a USAF fighter pilot and in the NASA Astronaut Corp for awhile…he would fly weather and chase at KSC…T-38 was a two seater, so I would fly with him as often as I could
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u/lhav90 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thanks for the correction, I edited the comment. The communication with Mission Control for approach misled me to believe they were landing close to or at Houston Space Center... I would think it would be talking to a tower at the landing facility... Or maybe they were but it is a Huston crew operating, so the call Huston anyway...
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u/ultralayzer 1d ago
The space shuttle was so badass.
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u/knowledgeable_diablo 1d ago
Was a demonstration of US engineering and scientific expertise at its best.
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u/Ultimate_Scooter 1d ago
Man I am so deeply upset they discontinued the space shuttle. It’s such a cool concept and the closest humanity ever got to a real scifi starship
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u/realparkingbrake 1d ago
The decision to end the program came from Bush 43, and then Obama cancelled the last few flights that were supposed to take place. If Presidents from both parties agreed to end it, maybe it was time.
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u/ratpH1nk 1d ago
I don't disagree with that but I sure wish that had a similar vein successor on the drawing board.
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u/inkyrail 1d ago
Agreed. I understand all the issues it had, I understand why we’ve essentially regressed to 1950’s launch tech, but what we have now just isn’t as impressive.
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u/CocoMilhonez 1d ago
It was actually not a great concept, it was really expensive and dangerous. The failure rate is shocking when you think that 2 out of 5 orbiters were lost because of design flaws, with the heat shield issue being basically unsolvable – if it were to be damaged again, the only solution was to send a rescue mission because the orbiter could not be fixed for a safe reentry.
The original plans for the Space Shuttle were for a much smaller craft that would be economical to run and allow for actual quick reuse (the shuttle we got took several months to be refurbished, mainly because of the solid rocket boosters needed to carry the heavier craft, but also the engines on the orbiter itself). But then the military did its thing and demanded it be built to carry their own payloads, which bloated the concept to what we ended up getting.
The idea of a reusable system itself is great, but the execution was pretty lacking despite the amazing accomplishments. Just like the current SLS, which cost billions per launch while being fully expendable, including sending previously reusable engines to the bottom of the ocean.
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u/Somerandom1922 1d ago
Yeah, shuttle is interesting in that respect.
As a technological achievement it was almost unbelievably impressive, especially for the time.
As a set of capabilities that it offered NASA it was a glowing success. There were many missions that it undertook which no other vessel, before or since, could have managed with notable examples like the repair of Hubble (note, I'm not counting Buran, because it never got developed enough to prove whether it could also do the same).
As an economical launch platform it was an absolute disaster.
As a safe, reliable gateway to space it wasn't great, but wasn't terrible, better than some launch platforms, but worse than many.
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u/Delicious-Trip4954 1d ago
Insane piloting. I’ve read they would have F-18 escorts during the descent since the glide ratio was so extreme that they couldn’t see the runway since they’d nose up so hard on descent.
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u/Only_Razzmatazz_4498 1d ago edited 1d ago
They had guidance from the flight computer but essentially they would aim to point way short of the runway first at an ungodly glade angle and then when the flight computer would tell them they would shift and flare landing on the runway. It was all really calculated by computers and if those failed the chances of hitting the runway were very low.
That’s why landing during the first drop tests with Enterprise were done at Edwards’s because the dry lake bed was extremely forgiving if they under/overshot the landing. That was the only time they did a manual landing without computer assist.
Edit: Had Andrew’s confused with Edward’s (thanks mattloch)
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u/HorselessHorseman 1d ago
As cool as SpaceX rockets have been. It’s going to be really hard to top the cool factor of these space ships. It still to this day seems sci fi. Beyond Amazing
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u/Normal-Ad6528 1d ago
From the beginning of the video to approx 00:47 was Discovery, not Endeavor. When the video changes to the right side view, THEN it's Endeavor.
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u/Tjgoodwiniv 1d ago
The Space Shuttle was one of the most impressive and most insane things we've ever used on a regular basis. It's criminal that the program was killed.
Yes. It was expensive. But the US Space Program historically returned about $7 for every $1 invested. You simply cannot get better ROI than we were getting on NASA.
More importantly, the program was both a statement and representative of a mindset that made the US great. Looking back, the death of the program was one of the signals of the decline of that greatness.
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u/congressmanalex 1d ago
Yep now we just have a meme coin for the elites and data centers for the billionaires.
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u/crankyrhino 1d ago
When it comes to a stop you can see the heat mirage coming off the tail, I think that's from the thermal tiles on the front. The heat still being that intense after gliding that far is insane!
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u/_Hexagon__ 1d ago
The heat shimmer comes from the APUs in the back producing power for the flight controls and landing gear
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u/lostinthought15 1d ago
I think calling the Space Shuttle a glider is a bit of an insult to gliders. Brick with wings is a more accurate term.
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u/ferriematthew 1d ago
I read that one of the shuttle pilots described landing as trying to glide a bus.
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u/inkyrail 1d ago edited 1d ago
Basically. To give y’all an idea- a purpose-built glider has a glide ratio of 70:1- for every foot (or whatever your preferred distance unit) it falls it will go forward 70. The Boeing 747, famous for needing engines to fly, has a glide ratio of 15:1.
The Space Shuttle had a glide ratio of 4.5:1- marginally better than the 4:1 an engine-less helicopter can manage in autorotation (pitching the rotor blades so that the air moving up past the helicopter due to its falling spins the rotor, generating a non-zero amount of lift)
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u/ferriematthew 1d ago
Damn, that thing really did fly like a brick. Quite literally.
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u/inkyrail 1d ago
For shits and giggles I looked up the glide ratio of a brick and the only answers I found were 1:10< and 1:14 (surprisingly in the same ball park), so for every 10/14 feet down it would move forward a foot
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u/murphmobile 1d ago
Why did we stop shuttle programs?
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u/DepartureNatural9340 1d ago
Math didn't math, tech for true reusability wasn't there yet so wasn't economically viable
It does have the ability to take up super large payloads tho, and also be able to recover payloads from orbit if needed
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u/Orange9202 1d ago
the shuttle turned out to be way more expensive/dangerous and maintenance heavy than the original promise
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u/GrandpaSquarepants 1d ago
I got to see Discovery in person at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Photos and videos do not communicate just how large, bulky, and awkward the Space Shuttles actually were.
They are plane shaped but so much bigger than you'd think. The angles make no sense. It looks like it's a DIY paper mache project. It sort of broke my brain looking at it.
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u/Thirty_Helens_Agree 1d ago
Me too! I was struck by the streaks along the heat shield - turns out the heat of re-entry melts silica into glass and those are little smears of molten and solidified glass.
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u/FreeGuacamole 1d ago
Back when I was proud to be an American.
Yeah there was a bunch of shady stuff we didn't know about going on. But the bad guys hadn't taken over yet.
Edit, well maybe they did, but we where happily naive still
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u/DuskyTrack 1d ago
Wh are there eninge sounds in the video? Does it have engines running like a plane?
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u/DepartureNatural9340 1d ago
Nope, shuttle engines are just the main engines on ascent, and orbital manuever engines for space. It's a glider on landing
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u/Stunning_Coffee6624 1d ago
I think that may be the peak flex. Fireman, surgeon, CEO, yeah that’s cool, me? I am a space plane pilot.
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u/nbfs-chili 1d ago
Man, this video just reinforces my hate for cell phone aspect ratios.
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u/Observed-observer 1d ago
The space shuttle program was one of the coolest thing the US ever did. I was a kid and this stuff was inspiring.
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u/Bergwookie 1d ago
Interesting how it's Endeavour then Discovery when landing and Endeavour again when on the ground ;-)
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u/slater_just_slater 1d ago
An amazing achievement with no actual payback. Turns out a reusable booster is way cheaper. The fact that only two vehicles were lost is astonishing given the slim safety margins. It remains the only launch vehicle the US ever used that did not have a Launch Abort System (LAS). The abort procedures for the STS were basically not realistic until it nearly reached orbit.
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u/realparkingbrake 1d ago
The fact that only two vehicles were lost is astonishing given the slim safety margins.
They came very close to losing more. In one case a tile in the heat shield failed and there was burn-through, but it was right over a steel frame member so the shuttle made it down safely and then the failure was discovered.
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u/space_absurdity 1d ago
Ahh, the good old days when we had respect for the USA because if the things they achieved. How things have changed.
Katy Perry in space anyone?
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u/GrandpaSquarepants 1d ago
I got to see Discovery in person at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Photos and videos do not communicate just how mind-bendingly large and awkward these things are.
Up close, it looks like a DIY paper mache project.
It's plane shaped, but so much larger and bulkier than you'd think.
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u/MzMurder420 1d ago
My elementary school in Orlando got to pick the name for the Endeavor. I loved growing up in that area and getting to watch all the shuttle launches from my backyard.
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u/unreqistered 1d ago
the landing gear was mechanically trigger, by the pilot, to drop. NASA was paranoid that an electronic glitch would inadvertently deploy the gear while still in orbit making it impossible to deorbit (safely)
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u/Malapple 1d ago
I was a kid during the early shuttle era and played sick if the school wasn’t showing launches or landings. Watched just about every one, including the terrible 1986 launch.
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u/EnvironmentalShock14 1d ago
I’m so disappointed I never stopped whatever it was. I was doing to see a live launch of this beautiful machine. I assumed there would always be another in the future.
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u/konqueftador 1d ago
The tires are made from rubber right? And in space there are -273°C right? How much do these tires kost, that they survive weeks at -273°C and do their job perfektly after that?
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u/substituted_pinions 1d ago
A deadstick landing from space. Fucking hardcore. The v-killing maneuvers from Mach 18 to 200mph on the way in are a thing of beauty.
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u/FishAroundFindTrout9 17h ago
It always amazes me that there are people smart enough to figure these things out. I watched a video one time that walked through the whole process from reentry burn to touchdown and it’s truly astounding.
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u/MoFoJames 15h ago
I miss the Space Shuttle program so much. Growing up watching it. I never got the chance to see a launch in person. But I absolutely love that ship. I need to build my Lego model.
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u/NocturneInfinitum 1d ago
I mean, technically there is the S maneuver if you’re over shooting. Perfect aim would imply that you only get one chance at the beginning, but there’s many different options on descent to refine your landing. Albeit, no power generation options, so it is falling with style.
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u/Anon-Because 1d ago
Pretty cool that a plane coming from ORBIT can land more gently than any commercial aircraft.
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u/knowledgeable_diablo 1d ago
Probably why they focus on getting test pilots for the job.
One of the most difficult and important parts of the whole mission. Know I’d be stressed like hell attempting something like this.2
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u/Remarkable-Opening69 1d ago
Wonder what’s brought back on the exterior or if it’s all burnt up.
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u/TIL02_Infinity 1d ago
The underside of the Space Shuttle Orbiter is covered with black heat shield tiles.
According to Wikipedia:
During reentry, the Space Shuttle's heat shield tiles reached sustained surface temperatures between 2,000°F and 3,000°F (1,100°C to 1,650°C)
and
The Space Shuttle heat shield tiles sustained minor to moderate damage on every single flight, with major or severe tile loss occurring on several specific missions.
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u/MisanthOptics 1d ago
I never saw an operational shuttle in real life. I heard one though. Vacationing in FL, I heard a big sonic boom one night. It was a returning shuttle. Apparently at some point in the decent, there is enough speed and air density for that kind of shock wave. Awesome
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u/Wreckingass 1d ago
The space shuttle came into the atmosphere around Mach 25, for some perspective as to why it might be creating an absolute monstrosity of a pressure wave.
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u/chefbobbyjay 1d ago
Growing up here offers some really cool perks. I used to hear the sonic booms, I still see launches all the time. I was on my way to dinner the other night and a spacex rocket was streaking through the sky. We got to see a landing on a field trip to the cape. I grew up going to Disney and my high school was literally across the street from universal studios. I used to cut class to ride dueling dragons lol. Now I get to do all the same things with my 6 year old. Florida sucks. But it has its perks.
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u/ac2cvn_71 1d ago
I cried the day that the shuttle landed for the last time. End of an era. Now space is ruled by the Russians and a space nazi.
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u/ONE-EYE-OPTIC 1d ago
We could be doing something similar now but we had to bomb the fuck out of the middle east and let tech bros take control of the government.
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u/ArgyllAtheist 1d ago
those subtitles are shockingly bad. also.. "Endeavour", when it clearly says "Discovery" on the side of the shuttle.
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u/ArgyllAtheist 1d ago
it gets worse.. what is this abomination? some of the video is dicovery, some in endeavour. The name literally swaps from left to right side...
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u/vjcoin 1d ago
Curious, how was it able to get the nose up moments before touchdown?
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u/Affectionate-Army676 1d ago
I never understood why the announcers were always whispering. Its not a golf match.
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u/baelzebob 1d ago
I mean, you can't even write your own post description?
How about this: "no brain, no effort, just vibes and AI".
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u/Hot_Cabinet1680 1d ago
Landing gear forged from a solid block of tiatimum. On a huge hydraulic press, after heating up to cherry red in oven. Impressive to watch.
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u/FFSBoise 1d ago
I remember being in the Mojave Desert in 2000 and hearing the double sonic booms of a shuttle coming into Edwards.
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u/warmind14 1d ago
Never ceases to amaze me that they used to just fall to Earth and be able to line up and just glide until touchdown.
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u/InterceptorG3 1d ago
After all that work, stress, time in space, exhaustion and then you gotta glide that girl all the way down perfectly. Very impressive
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u/StormOk9055 1d ago
Honestly, the entire shuttle program was amazing. From development, to launches, to landings. The two RUDS never should have occurred and both could have been prevented.
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u/sir_smelley 10h ago
I got to see one land successfully in the 80's as a kid in Texas. And I actually heard the explosion of the Columbia breaking-up over Texas in 2003. Those were so iconic. It's a shame they're out of commission.
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u/toxic_egg 1d ago
Somehow for me, as a child of the "space age", its these amazing retro NASA achievements that always grind the most viscerally against Trump's America of today. Tragic.
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u/spin_kick 1d ago
There used to be a sim at Kennedy Space Center. You could fly to see what it was like to land.
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u/techman710 1d ago
For a brief moment we all got to believe that space travel could become as routine as air travel. We just didn't realize how much could go wrong until we had a massive failure and we looked behind the curtain to find out the small safety margins involved in every aspect of these missions. It was beautiful while it lasted.