Austin - 14/1/2007 3:18 PMThere is also a connection extending from the launch gantry to the rear of the ET that is blown away at T-O.
Jim - 14/1/2007 12:40 PMQuoteAustin - 14/1/2007 3:18 PMThere is also a connection extending from the launch gantry to the rear of the ET that is blown away at T-O.There is no connection at the aft of the ET. The only T-0 connection is at the intertank and it is not structural
Austin - 14/1/2007 5:29 PMThere is also a connection extending from the launch gantry to the rear of the ET that is blown away at T-O.As Jim stated, the SRB's and SSME's control the roll and pitch of the vehicle. Both the main engine and SRB nozzles gimble, in effect steering the vehicle and positioning it in the proper launch plane. These patterns are preprogrammed and controlled by the computers, of course.During the next countdown, watch for the main engine gimble check at the T minus 3 minutes, 55 second mark and you will see them moving through their ascent flight profile.The final gimble check of the SRB nozzles occurs at T minus 21 seconds, but this will not be visible.
spaceshuttle - 14/1/2007 4:04 PMLooking at some daytime VAB Roof launch replays, it looked like the SRB exhaust criss-crossed, so (I if my observation is correct) you can see how the roll actualy happens from that view. The flame also spreads out.
elmarko - 15/1/2007 5:36 AM Skinny, you have your links the wrong way round in your first post
Radioheaded - 15/1/2007 9:14 AMAfter watching the excellent Diary of Discovery posted by Gordo, I noticed that in one part of that program they very quickly showed the crew working an RTLS scenario in the simulator. I was curious (considering how quickly they moved to a different scene) how often are the RTLS performed successfully in the simulator? It's my understanding that were this abort to actually occur that it might take some good fortune (perhaps even divine intervention) to pull it off. It just made me wonder how crews handle it during their simulator time, and what would be the % of successfull landings versus not.
jabe - 15/1/2007 1:46 PMslightly off topic..can't seem to find the info..I teach physics and do lessons on rocketry. my search skills seem to be lacking today .. how much mass is the shuttle losing each second at the start of the launch? Can do some rough estimates on the masses before and after but curious the actual values. I under stand it is several tonnes per second..is the there a "chart" that discusses it .. I can find the thrust profile discussed but never the mass loss.. those numbers seem to imprsee kids more than the thrust. Mass loss seems to be a better "visual" for them than thrust
mkirk - 15/1/2007 11:09 AMP.S.Last year Craig Covault of Aviation Week and Space Technology sat in on a suited Ascent/Abort sim with the STS-115 crew. He wrote an aritcle about it last fall which gives a good overview of the RTLS profile and a narative of a typical TAL Abort. If you have access to the magazine this will give you some good insight into what a training session is like. He is much better at translating the technical stuff than I am.
DMeader - 15/1/2007 4:39 PMSomewhere I think I saw a quote from a crewmember referring to the RTLS abort as "two miracles followed by an act of God".Briefly on another topic, the Shuttle image used in the headline of the "Shuttle fleet on schedule ahead of NASA summit" article is one of the most stunning launch photographs I have ever seen. Can someone point me to a full-size high-quality copy somewhere I can download, perhaps on L2? I'm not an L2 member yet, but I believe I would join on the spot for that image.Thank you!