Opening the gears too soon creates a significant amount of drag that would cause the shuttle to stall and plummet to the Earth. Without any thrust, there is only one attempt at landing. The commander lines up the module and drops the gears at the last possible moment.

The aircraft continuously performs the maneuver until it straightens out 20 km from the runway allowing the commander to perform the final approach. Of course, the space shuttle is then put off course requiring it to be rotated 180-degrees to direct the force in the opposite direction. The force of lift must be counteracted to achieve a safe level of speed, therefore, the shuttle is tilted onto its side causing the direction of lift to be perpendicular to the ground. The craft continuously slows down, however, the lift from the wings causes the aircraft to maintain a large velocity, much too fast if the shuttle was to land with a direct approach. To counteract the force, a computer guidance sequence initiates a 60-degree pitch to cause the shuttle to plummet into the atmosphere. The large swept back wings exhibit a large amount of lift which would cause the shuttle to skip off the atmosphere is it increases in density- similar to skipping a rock off of a pond. The immense rate of descent is surprisingly beneficial to reentering the atmosphere. In comparison, it would be an equivalence of an airline pilot initiating a descent which takes only 2 minutes to hit the ground. However, the resistance significantly impacts the aerodynamics of the shuttle, causing it to descend at virtually the same velocity of a human at terminal velocity- about 200km/h down at an altitude of about 3km. It would seem intuitive to use a smooth surface to create a minimal amount of drag, however, NASA engineers resorted to a material with small gaps increasing turbulent flow to create a secondary air barrier to resist the heat. However, the dual delta wings provide just enough lift to enable the craft to glide, though it is often referred to as the flying brick. Of course, crafting such a vehicle was not an easy task. Darker regions have a high heat transfer rate while the white surfaces excel at reflecting heat.ĭespite having a craft that can withstand the extreme heat, the aircraft was also required to glide safely to the Earth with no external power. The main difference between the coating is the outer layer of the skin. The leading edges of the vehicle are reinforced with a carbon-carbon coating to prevent the craft from disintegrating. High-temperature reusable insulation tiles covered the underside with low-temperature tiles on the rest of the craft. Preventing the aircraft from becoming engulfed in flames requires several forms of tiles which are placed depending on the thermal requirements of the area. As the aircraft continues to fall through the Earth's atmosphere a massive amount of drag causes the external parts of the orbiter to heat up to as much as 1,648☌. During reentry, the acceleration is so significant it undergoes as much as 7 times the force of gravity putting incredible strain on the aircraft. The orbiter must slow down from its initial speed of 28 000 kilometers per hour ( 9 times fasterthan an average rifle bullet!) to a much slower 300 km/h over a vertical 4oo kilometer distance. Spacecraft engineers are challenged to develop a vehicle capable of withstanding the immense heat and force the orbiter undergoes. The most difficult and dangerous parts of space flight is reentry. 1, 2003, when it broke up during reentry, killing all seven astronauts on board.

While each orbiter was engineered to be used for 100 flights, the Columbia rocket infamously exploded on Feb. Although, unphased by the challenge, engineers at NASA soon developed the Columbia, the first space shuttle which was to carry 11 astronauts and 27,000 kilograms into space atop a 56-meter tall rocket. On paper, it seemed inconceivable to create a spacecraft resilient enough to withstand reentry and be in a working condition after. However, building the space shuttle challenged engineers across the world.

Spaceship landing