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Space Shuttle Research Paper

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Space Shuttle Research Paper
Space Shuttles: | The Life of Them | | Kionna Jones | | 7th period | 11/29/2010 | |

Space Shuttles
The Space Shuttle is an American spacecraft operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for orbital human spaceflight missions. The Space Shuttle is part of the Space Transportation System (STS). Space Shuttles are one of the most talked about aircrafts. The Shuttle is a reusable launch and reentry vehicle that saves on the costs that were once required to carry out a space mission. The Shuttle can also remove objects from orbit when their missions or lifetime has ended. Major missions consisted of launching numerous satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science experiments, and
…show more content…
The NASA space program really began working when President Nixon signed the approval for the development of the Space Shuttle in 1972. The Space Shuttle development was a group effort by all groups at NASA. The first Shuttle produced was the Enterprise and its main goal was to practice entering the upper atmosphere and returning to earth with a safe landing. The first fully functional Space Shuttle was the Colombia and it did its first mission in 1981. The United States funded STS development and Shuttle operations. The Shuttle has been used for orbital space missions by NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, the European Space Agency, and …show more content…
This means no mechanical linkages connect the pilot's control stick to the control surfaces or reaction control system thrusters. A big concern with digital fly-by-wire systems is reliability. A lot of research went into the shuttle computer system. Four computers run specialized software called the Primary Avionics Software System (PASS). A fifth backup computer runs separate software called the Backup Flight System (BFS). All together they are called the Data Processing System (DPS). The design goal of the shuttle's DPS is fail-operational/fail-safe reliability. After one failure, the shuttle can still continue the mission. After two failures, it could still land

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