Rockets+&+Spacecraft

Getting Started

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Rubric: [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.doc]], [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.pdf]]
Rockets and spacecraft are used for mainly two reasons and these reasons are to get people in to space and bring satellites into space. Rockets and spacecraft are all different shapes and sizes. For example the Saturn V was a tall rocket and almost pole like when standing. It was used only once, but the space shuttle was a reusable two-rocket booster shuttle that was able to be used more than once. This became the new best thing for NASA. The space shuttle would eventually bring pieces to be added to the international space station. When it was done with its mission in space, this reusable shuttle would then enter the earth’s atmosphere and land on the designated runway in Florida or California. This shuttle would then be sent to the assembly building to be inspected and repaired of any damage. The shuttle then would be attached to its rocket boosters, external fuel tank, and filled with any necessary equipment for its next mission. The completed shuttle assembly then would be sent on the Crawler to the launch pad to get ready for its next launch. This launch cycle then would start all over again.
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Visuals
 * media type="custom" key="12932006" || [[image:http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/00008586-T3 width="264" height="202" caption="cockpit"]] ||  ||
 * [[image:http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/00017117 width="353" height="378" caption="Jupiter-C Rocket"]] || [[image:http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/00008589-T3 width="292" height="345" caption="thumbnail"]] ||  ||
 * [[image:http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/00017117 width="353" height="378" caption="Jupiter-C Rocket"]] || [[image:http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/00008589-T3 width="292" height="345" caption="thumbnail"]] ||  ||
 * [[image:http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/00017117 width="353" height="378" caption="Jupiter-C Rocket"]] || [[image:http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/00008589-T3 width="292" height="345" caption="thumbnail"]] ||  ||

**Works Cited** **Sources** : Include the source information for all of the magazine articles, reference sources (encyclopedias) and web site pages that were used to complete your project. The source information for encyclopedias may be found at the end or beginning of each entry in iCONN. When using periodicals, the publication information will be at the beginning or end of the article. This needs to be formatted for MLA standards. If it is not labeled 'Source Citation' it can be formatted appropriately by using EasyBib.com. You should use EasyBib for the web sites. The final Works Cited should be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation. "Milky Way." //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. "The Milky Way." //WMAP's Universe//. NASA, 28 June 2010. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. . Vergano, Dan. "Galaxy Bracketed by Big Bubbles." //USA Today// 10 Nov. 2010: 05A. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.
 * Sample:**

[] "Space shuttle." //U*X*L Science//. U*X*L, 2008. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. Solid Rocket Boosters." //Space Sciences//. Ed. Pat Dasch. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2010. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. "Saturn V Rocket." //Astronomy & Space: From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch//. Gale, 2007. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. Authors own experiences
 * Your Source List:**

**Topic: Research Focus**
 * What is your topic?** Rockets and spacecraft
 * State the focus of your research:** To learn more about rockets and spacecraft.

**Notes**

=**Space shuttle**=

The space shuttle is a rocket-boosted spacecraft that carries astronauts (human space researchers), satellites, and space probes. The shuttle can make repeated space flights. Space shuttle flights are designated with a code that indicates the sequence of flights in the Space Transportation System (STS) of which the shuttles are a part. Thus, the first space shuttle flight by Columbia in 1981 was designated as mission STS-1. The last flight in the program, scheduled for 2010, will be STS-133, the launch of Endeavour.

====The shuttle uses an arm that can manipulate large objects either to lift them out of the cargo bay or to retrieve them from space. Astronauts use a manned maneuvering unit (MMU), which allows them to fly into space near the shuttle without being attached to the shuttle. With these devices, crew members can retrieve and repair disabled satellites, or retrieve them for future relaunch.====

American space shuttles are launched vertically like any other rocket. They use their own engines and two attached rocket boosters to blast into space. After their fuel is used, the rocket boosters drop back into the atmosphere, where they burn up before reaching Earth. To reenter Earth's atmosphere, the shuttle turns around, brakes with its engines, and descends like a glider. It lands on special three-mile long runways in Florida or California as if it were an airplane.

Rocket boosters
Mounted on either side of the space shuttle's external fuel tank (ET) are a pair of giant rockets with a single, two-minute purpose: to get the shuttle off the launch pad. The rockets are called the shuttle's solid rocket boosters (SRBs) because they contain solid, as opposed to liquid, propellant. Each booster has a thrust of about 3.3 million pounds of force at launch, enough power to propel the space shuttle, its external fuel tank, the boosters themselves, and the shuttle's cargo and crew into the air. Specifically, the SRBs provide over 80% of the power necessary to lift the space shuttle off the launch pad, with the other thrust coming from the space shuttle main engines. The boosters ignite 6.6 seconds after the three space shuttle main engines (SSMEs) have attained at least 90% rated thrust. The SSMEs use liquid hydrogen (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) provided by the external fuel tank. If the shuttle engines are performing properly, computer commands are automatically relayed to ignite the boosters and fire explosives to break open four 71-centimeter (28-inch) long, 8.9-centimeter (3.5-inch) diameter bolts that attach each booster to the launch platform. The shuttle then leaps off the launch pad in a dramatic and heart-stopping display of pyrotechnics. Trailing pillars of flame and smoke, the boosters fly the shuttle into the sky to an altitude of about 45,700 meters (150,000 feet). The boosters push the shuttle to speeds of more than 4,825 kilometers per hour (3,000 miles per hour). Meanwhile, temperatures inside the boosters soar to nearly 3,300°C (6,000°F), which is nearly two-thirds the temperature of the Sun's surface--and hot enough to not only melt steel, but also boil it. About 123.6 seconds after liftoff, computer commands are relayed for another set of explosive bolts to detonate and separate the boosters from the orbiter's external fuel tank. The shuttle's three main engines (SSMEs) continue burning to carry the spaceship into orbit. The boosters, however, have completed their mission. They continue to fly solo another 21,300 meters (70,000 feet) or so before their fuel is fully consumed, and the now-empty canisters begin falling back down toward the ocean. Parachutes slow the boosters' descent and cushion their crash into the Atlantic Ocean. The spent boosters splash down about 227 kilometers (141 miles) from the launch site. Two special ships waiting in the area retrieve them. They are then towed back to the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where they are processed and returned to the manufacturer. The segmented motors are disassembled, and the cylindrical cases are cleaned, reinsulated, and refilled with propellant. The exhaust nozzles are refurbished, and other components are replaced as needed. Nose cone and aft skirt assemblies are added to turn the motor into a completed booster. Measuring 45.4 meters (149 feet) tall and 3.7 meters (12 feet) in diameter, the shuttle's solid rocket boosters are the largest solid propellant motors ever flown. They are also the first that were designed to be reusable. The boosters are filled with a special mixture consisting mostly of ammonium perchlorate, which is an oxidizer; aluminum for fuel; iron oxide, which is a polymer to bind the ingredients together; and an epoxy curing agent. This mixture is liquid when poured into the segments that form each motor. The propellant is cured over a period of four days until it solidifies. When it hardens, it has the color and consistency of a pencil eraser. At launch, each booster weighs 1.3 million pounds (an equivalent mass of 590,200 kilograms), which consists of 1.1 million pounds (an equivalent mass of 499,400 kilograms) of propellant. The other parts of the booster are the cases, igniters, nozzles, separation systems, flight instruments, recovery avionics, pyrotechnics, deceleration systems, steering equipment, and range safety destruct systems. Each booster is made up of four solid rocket motor segments, which are transported by special railcars to the shuttle's launch site at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. The boosters were redesigned after the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster, which claimed the lives of seven astronauts and destroyed a $1.7 billion orbiter. The disaster primarily was blamed on a faulty joint between two of the solid rocket fuel segments on the shuttle's right booster. A special commission that investigated the tragedy concluded that the joint had design flaws, which were exacerbated by the cold temperatures in the hours before Challenger 's liftoff. A rubber O-ring seal leaked, allowing hot gases to escape and to trigger the explosion of the shuttle's fuel tank and the loss of the vehicle and the crew. When the Space Transportation System (STS) program (popularly known as the space shuttles) ends in or around 2010. Prior to project cancellations in January 2010, NASA had invested $9 billion in development of components of the Constellation program intended to return U.S. astronauts to the moon by 2020. In October 2009, NASA launched a test version of the Ares I rocket (Ares I-X) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The test rocket's flight was initially classified as a success by NASA officials. The rocket's first solid fuel stage ignited and burned as anticipated. Just as the solid rocket boosters alongside the space shuttle are reusable, the Ares was also intended to be partially reusable. The solid fuel booster of the Ares I had spin motors to provide aerodynamic drag following burnout, and parachutes to cushion its fall into the ocean downrange of the launch site.

THE SATURN V
The Saturn V was a multistage expendable rockets used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for lifting U.S. spacecraft and a space station during the Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 to 1973. The Saturn V rocket stands out as the largest and most powerful rocket, so far, ever developed and placed in full operations. This giant rocket stood 363 feet (111 meters) tall and weighed 3,000 tons (2,721 metric tons). It is nearly twice as tall as the NASA space shuttle at launch. To get an idea of just how spectacular it was, think of a New York City skyscraper taller than the Statue of Liberty, blasting off with a deafening roar and enough force to make buildings surrounding the launch pad shake. Saturn V was one of a series of Saturn rockets developed by German American engineer Wernher von Braun (1912-1977) and his colleagues at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. The prime contractors for the Saturn V were the Boeing Company, North American Aviation (which is now part of Boeing), and Douglas Aircraft Company (now a part of Boeing). Von Braun came to work for the U.S. government at the end of World War II (1939-45). Just prior to the Saturn V, von Braun had created the Redstone rocket, which was used in the earliest piloted spaceflights, the Mercury missions of 1961 and 1962. The Saturn series included two rockets besides Saturn V. They were Saturn I and Saturn IB. The first Saturn rockets were about 150 feet (45 meters) tall and 21 feet (6.4 meters) thick at the base. Studies indicated that neither had sufficient thrust to send an Apollo spacecraft to the Moon, which led to the development of the many-times-more-powerful Saturn V. Saturn V proved remarkably successful. It was used as the launch vehicle for all piloted Apollo flights to the Moon, beginning with the December 1968 launch of Apollo 8. Then, in July 1969, Saturn V was the force behind Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission. In all, Saturn V propelled twenty-four astronauts toward the Moon, twelve of whom set foot on the lunar surface. This rocket was capable of lifting an object weighing 285,000 pounds (129,273 kilograms) into orbit around Earth and of sending 100,000 pounds (45,359 kilograms) to the Moon. Saturn V was comprised of three stages. The first (bottom) stage was 138 feet (42 meters) tall and 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and was powered by five F-1 engines developed by Rocketdyne. It operated for just over two minutes, by which time the spacecraft had reached a height of 38 (61 kilometers) miles above Earth. This stage then fell away from the rest of the vehicle and dropped into the ocean. The second stage then took over for the next six minutes. It was also 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter, but only 81 feet (25 meters) tall. It was propelled by five J-2 engines, developed by Rocketdyne, with the combined power of thirty diesel locomotives. This stage drove the Apollo spacecraft to a speed of 14,000 miles (22,000 kilometers) per hour. It separated from the spacecraft at about 120 miles (190 kilometers) above the ground. The third and final stage of the rocket was nearly the same height as the second stage, but only about half as wide. Its single J-2 engine fired twice: the first time, immediately after the second stage separated, to project the spacecraft into orbit around Earth; and the second time, about ninety minutes later, to push the spacecraft out of its orbit, and in the direction of the Moon. Like most of the rockets used in spaceflight, Saturn V was fueled by liquid propellant, a mixture of liquid fuel and liquid oxidizer. These two substances are initially stored in separate tanks. When combined in the combustion chamber, they ignite and produce the energy that propels the vehicle. Types of liquid fuel include alcohol, kerosene, liquid hydrogen, and hydrazine. The liquid oxidizer may be nitrogen tetroxide or liquid oxygen. Liquid-propellant rockets have advantages over solid-propellant rockets in that they ignite with a much more powerful explosion and are capable of shutting down and restarting. Fifteen Saturn V rockets were built in all. The first two were used on unpiloted Apollo test flights and the next ten on piloted Apollo missions. The thirteenth and final Saturn V flight came on May 14, 1973, when it placed the U.S. space station Skylab into orbit. Due to the cancellation of the last two Apollo missions, the two remaining Saturn V rockets were never used and are on display at space centers, one near Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, and the other in Houston, Texas, at the NASA Johnson Space Center. One test Saturn V rocket is on display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, in Huntsville, Alabama.