Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Enterprise (English for business, enterprise ) is a prototype for the shuttles from the Space Shuttle program of the U.S. space agency NASA. The internal name is OV- 101. The name "Enterprise " goes back to the fictional starship Enterprise from the science fiction series Star Trek.

The space shuttle was used from 1977 to test the capabilities of the space shuttle flight in the atmosphere. For this purpose it was built without some key components such as engine and heat shield, and was therefore not capable of flights into space. Plans, they retrofit this were not realized for reasons of cost. Although the Enterprise so that remained a prototype, it is referred to by NASA as "the first Space Shuttle". In the years 1983 and 1984, she was paraded in various European countries, Canada and the USA and 1985 finally handed over to the Smithsonian Institution, which she exhibited in the National Air and Space Museum. In April 2012, the space shuttle was brought to New York, where she has since been exhibited at the Intrepid Sea- Air-Space Museum.

History

Development

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States competed in the so-called " space race " question of which nation was able to advance as the first with a satellite, later a manned spacecraft into space, which build first a space station, and wherein the first landing on the moon would succeed. Mutually translated thereby to techniques which could be used only once, which was particularly uneconomical because of the high costs. In the U.S., therefore we turned away from the mid-1960s increased the idea to develop a reusable space shuttle that launches like a rocket and similar returns an airplane to the ground. This should reduce the cost of space flight significantly and so usher in the commercialization of space. After the first draft, however, it soon became clear that a fully reusable system would be technically unduly burdensome and therefore uneconomical due to the high total weight. NASA lay so on 15 March 1972, a three-part concept defined, consisting of an orbiter, an external tank and two solid boosters. Only the external tank burns after starting in the atmosphere; the other components are returned to the ground in different ways and can be used again.

Construction and naming

On July 26, 1972, NASA awarded the contract for the construction of the orbiter to the aircraft and armaments manufacturer Rockwell. The contract had a circumference of 2.6 billion U.S. dollars. This was followed by agreements with Martin Marietta over the making of the External Tank on August 16, 1973, with Morton Thiokol on the manufacture of solid rocket boosters on 27 June 1974.

After a lengthy detailed planning Rockwell began on 4 June 1974, the production work on the OV- 101 on the Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The combination of letters OV ' in the internal designation stands ( German as: " Orbiter Vehicle " ) for " Orbiter Vehicle " by which is meant the space shuttle without tank and boosters. On 12 March 1976 the assembly was completed. On the main engine and the heat shield was made, as OV -101 should initially only be used to test, how can fly and land in the atmosphere, a space shuttle. The option to later upgrade the orbiter to full operational capability was ultimately discarded.

On 17 September 1976, the anniversary of the Constitution of the United States of America, the space shuttle left the hangar of the construction site and was presented to the public. In honor of the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States, it was originally the name " Constitution" (English for, Constitution ') wear. However, tens of thousands of fans of the science fiction television series Star Trek had ( German: Star Trek ), the then U.S. President Gerald Ford asked in letters to the White House about to baptize the Orbiter after the spacecraft of this series. At the same time the name "Enterprise " has a tradition of naming U.S. warships and stands for human striving forward. The ceremonial public premiere of the orbiter Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and the cast of the television series have been invited and played the theme music from Star Trek.

Atmospheric flight and landing tests

On 31 January 1977, the Enterprise of Palmdale overland to the Dryden Flight Research Center ( DFRC ), located about 60 kilometers away was transported to Edwards Air Force Base. There she was subjected to various tests in the next nine months, under the name of Approach and Landing Tests: were summarized briefly ALT (literally " approach and landing tests "). Examines not only the suitability of the space shuttle, but also the possibility they piggyback on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA ), a modified Boeing 747 to transport. The ALT program can be divided into three phases: taxi tests, coupled flights and free flights.

The first test phase consisted of three taxi tests, so-called taxi tests, all of which took place on 15 February 1977. As Taxiing refers to the movement of an aircraft on the ground under its own power. Here first the behavior of the piggyback trailer combination from Space Shuttle and SCA was examined. The Enterprise was mounted on the back of the SCA and was wearing an aerodynamic fairing, but remained without crew and off. The SCA accelerated the team to up to 253 km / h without taking off from the runway.

The second trial began three days later, when the SCA first took off with the Enterprise. From February to July 1977, graduated from the piggyback team total of eight coupled Flights ( Captive tests). With all the engine cowling was on the back of the Enterprise. The first five of these flights should only flying the outfit show, so the Enterprise off here and remained unmanned. The remaining coupled flights in June and July 1977 were also the preparation of the forthcoming free flights. A crew of two astronauts was aboard the Enterprise to test different procedures. For example, drove the crew at the end of the last coupled flight from the chassis of the Enterprise.

In the third test phase, the Enterprise took a total of five free-flight experiments ( Free Flights ). The SCA took the shuttle to an altitude of 16000-30000 feet ( about 4.8 to 9.1 km ), in which it was first isolated from the SCA on 12 August 1977 to then autonomously to accomplish a landing approach and landing. The last two free flights were without the aerodynamic fairing carried out to simulate a landing approach including as realistic as possible. The Space Shuttle was still not equipped with its own drive system and was landed in gliding, as it should be done later after space missions. The first four landings took place on a dry lake, the last on a runway at Edwards Air Force Base.

The Approach and Landing tests corresponded largely to the previously approved courses. Some case revealed problems could be solved immediately. The flight behavior of the enterprise exceeded expectations even.

The Enterprise at the second free flight, even with the engine cowling

The Enterprise coupled off in flight from the SCA

Approach and landing with no tail trim

Vibration tests

After completion of the ALT program, Enterprise was returned to the hangar at NASA on the DFRC, where it was prepared for the subsequent vibration tests. On March 13, 1978, the SCA transported the orbiter for NASA 's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville (Alabama ). There, the orbiter was connected to the external tank and solid boosters. For the first time all three major components of the starting configuration of a space shuttle were united. The combination was subjected to a series of shock tests, so-called vertical ground vibration subjected to tests for evaluating the stability of the compound and the individual elements and to compare the results with the theoretical mathematical models. In March 1979, these tests were completed. The results essentially confirm the data that had been calculated from experiments with smaller scale models. You, however, led to several changes to the design of the space shuttle, for example, the solid rocket boosters were reinforced in the front. The engineers were confident that the space shuttle would withstand the shocks of a flight.

Preparations for the first space shuttle mission

On April 10, 1979, the orbiter was transferred by the SCA to the Kennedy Space Center. Here the preparations for the STS- 1, the first space flight of a space shuttle, already in full swing. The space provided shuttle, Columbia, was already two and a half weeks earlier arrived and was ready for its maiden flight. Its heat shield was still incomplete and lacked the capital and the OMS engines and a variety of sensors. Meanwhile, the Enterprise in the Vehicle Assembly Building was connected to the external tank and solid boosters and launched on 1 May 1979 from there to the launch pad 39A. This came from the Apollo program and was rebuilt for the Space Shuttle launches. Using the Enterprise, the adjustments were reviewed. In particular, it was verified that a space shuttle external tank and boosters fit with the start ramp and the access and service levels were in the right places. During a nearly three -month rehearsal also different procedures were practiced, such as refueling.

Public Relations and decommissioning

On August 16, 1979, the Enterprise flew piggyback on the SCA back to DFRC, from where she was again transported overland to Rockwell manufacturing facility in Palmdale. There are various components were removed from the orbiter and prepared so that they could be installed in other space shuttles. Then the Enterprise on 6 September 1981, once again brought back to the DFRC.

Meanwhile, the Columbia had made in April 1981 as the first space shuttle go into space. While had originally planned to equip the Enterprise to test their applications with the same systems as the Columbia. The installation of engines, heat shield and other components would have made the ferry for space flight capable, and they would have become the second space shuttle in space after the Columbia. However, since the construction of the Space Shuttle during the construction of Columbia has been changed to save weight, this plan was discarded. To adjust the Enterprise to the rest of the shuttle fleet, many changes would have been necessary, which is why NASA because of the high costs ultimately decided against such a conversion.

In May and June of 1983, the Enterprise was issued in different countries. In France, she was seen at the Paris Air Show in Germany to Cologne / Bonn Airport, also in Italy, England and Canada. In 1984, she was visiting as an exhibit at the World's Fair in New Orleans.

After the Space Shuttle had its last official use: From the World's Fair, the Space Shuttle was spent in November 1984 on the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. On the air base the launch pad SLC -6 was rebuilt for the Space Shuttle, and the enterprise should look like already set on the Kennedy Space Center demonstrated that the modifications were done. It was placed on the ramp along with external tank and boosters and used for several effluent samples. After the successful test, the SCA transported the Enterprise on May 24, 1985 back to the DFRC. The project was however abandoned after the Challenger disaster, so that no other space shuttle ever stood on this launch pad.

On November 18, 1985, the Enterprise from DFRC to Washington, DC was transported, donated to the Smithsonian Institution, and thus officially been permanently withdrawn from service.

After the Challenger disaster

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke up 73 seconds after launch in around 15 km altitude. In the accident, all seven crew members were killed, the Challenger disaster was at this time the greatest catastrophe of space history.

NASA went on to consider various options for extending the now existing only three orbiters space shuttle fleet. Among other things, it has been considered again, use the Enterprise as a replacement for Challenger. However, it was too costly to retrofit with all necessary equipment for use in space. The decision was made in favor of a cheaper new building from spare parts that had been made ​​in the production of space shuttles Discovery and Atlantis. The new ferry was named Endeavour.

After the Columbia tragedy

Shortly before the end of mission STS -107 broke apart on February 1, 2003 the Space Shuttle Columbia during descent over Texas. All seven crew members were killed. Investigation of the crash revealed that damage to the heat shield was the most likely cause. A piece of foam insulation broke off the external tank at the start and had the left wing hit. To demonstrate the impact of such a hit, the impact of the foam part was adjusted. For the experiments, among other parts have been removed from the front edge of a wing of the enterprise and fired in the laboratory with the foam of the outer tank insulation. The tests confirmed that such a hit to break the heat shield and so could lead to the destruction during re-entry of the shuttle.

Museum exhibit

After the Smithsonian had received the Enterprise in 1985, it outsourced the ferry initially closed to the public in a hangar at the airport Washington Dulles International and placed it later in the finished in 2003 Steven F. Udvar- Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum from. There she was the central exhibit for several years.

With the end of the space shuttle program, NASA distributed the fleet as exhibits at various museums in the United States. The National Air and Space Museum was awarded the Discovery, the longest-serving and most traveled shuttle. In return, they had the Enterprise to another museum on. On 11 December 2011, the prototype of the New York Intrepid Sea- Air-Space Museum has been sold. On 17 April 2012, the Discovery arrived by SCA in Washington, two days later they released the Enterprise there at a ceremony outside the museum from. After investigations had already surrendered in early 2010 that a transport enterprise even after long service life is still in doubt, the shuttle was flown to New York's JFK Airport on 27 April 2012 by SCA, there loaded on 3 June on a barge, with which it arrived three days later in the Intrepid Sea- Air-Space Museum. During transport, the Enterprise was slightly damaged on one wing tip as she nudged at a bridge pier. Since 30 August 2012, it is available as an exhibit to the public.

Ceremonial exchange in April 2012: The Discovery (right) triggers the Enterprise as an exhibit in the Steven F. Udvar- Hazy Center from

The SCA brings the Enterprise in April 2012 to New York. Here the team flies over the Intrepid Sea- Air-Space Museum, where the orbiter will be issued.

In June 2012, the Enterprise reaches the Intrepid Sea- Air-Space Museum

Constructional features

Equipped as a prototype for now not for the space flight, lacked the Enterprise from the beginning important components. Moreover attracted the experiences you had won in their construction and the tests carried out with her, a different construction of the later orbiters after themselves. The enterprise, therefore, differs in some significant points of their successors.

First, it does not have a drive system. Your main and auxiliary engines are just dummies, the associated fuel tanks and lines are missing. The cockpit and the crew rooms are equipped in comparison with the space-qualified orbiters with only a few displays and control instruments. Navigation systems such as star sensors or head-up displays are available as little as indicators for the external tank and solid rocket boosters. The Enterprise has not installed either above the heads of the pilots still in flight deck aft window, an airlock is. The team rooms are not equipped for an extended stay of astronauts, for example, no galley is installed. The internal power supply based on fuel cell batteries instead of the later and could not produce the necessary energy for a space flight. The cargo bay has no mounts for payload, the payload bay doors do not have a mechanism for opening nor the radiators on the inside to prevent the overheating of the shuttle in space. Instead of heat protection tiles of the prototype tiles made ​​of polyurethane and glass fiber reinforced plastic that was not a re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere has had on hold. The landing gear was lowered with explosive bolts, hydraulic mechanisms of the later orbiters are missing as well as a manual backup system. [Note 1] The Enterprise, however, stands out not only by the many components that were saved when they were built, because they would have been necessary only for space flights. It is also equipped with additional systems with which the prototype was able to collect data. So she carries on its nose pitot tube for measuring air currents. The other space shuttles have to give up this measuring instrument, since their noses are covered with a heat shield.

Notably, the vibration tests which the Enterprise had been subjected in March 1978, had a number of additional changes to the design of the later -built Orbiter result. So the new specifications required a lower weight, wing and fuselage should be more stable. Different components made of aluminum were also replaced with the following parts orbiters by titanium to save weight. For the same reasons was abandoned during construction of the later shuttles on the ejection seats with which the Enterprise was still equipped. The seats manufactured by Lockheed had the two pilots can catapult into the open by two aluminum panels in the ceiling of the shuttle in an emergency. Only the Columbia had also initially ejection seats; these have been disabled, and later expanded.

Would a retrofit of the savings for the testing phase systems have been relatively cost-effective manner, the conceptual changes were extensive and therefore costly adjustments made ​​necessary; therefore, the Enterprise flew never into space.