BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 113: (a) Moving Beyond Earth

DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 113: (a) Moving Beyond Earth:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GAL113_131101_009.JPG: The Incredible Bionic Man
2. GAL113_131101_057.JPG: A Space Shuttle for a New Era Having reached the Moon and won the Space Race, the United States chose a new direction. Why did NASA decide to develop a reusable Space Shuttle when it could have continued to use the disposable rockets and capsules that proved so successful for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo? U.S. goals in space changed after the race to the Moon. The new emphasis was routine, practical, lower-cost spaceflight in Earth orbit. A space station became the long-term goal. The workhorse for this new era would be reusable winged spaceplane that could land on a runway and fly again.
3. GAL113_131101_061.JPG: Moving Beyond Earth
4. GAL113_131101_065.JPG: Moving Into Space
5. GAL113_131101_068.JPG: Moving into Space: In a Winged Reusable Spaceplane: Reaching orbit, even very near to Earth, is difficult. Risky. Costly. Rewarding. Nations move into space only when they decide to commit their people and resources to achieve certain goals there. After going to the Moon, the United States decided to expand human activity in Earth orbit. The main challenge: develop a new vehicle to make spaceflight economical and routine.
6. GAL113_131101_071.JPG: Where Is Space? If you could drive a car straight up, space would be only an hour away. International law defines the edge of space as 100 kilometers (62 miles) above Earth. Even there, the atmosphere is still dense enough to drag down satellites and spacecraft. They must be boosted to about 362 kilometers (225 miles) to stay in orbit.
7. GAL113_131101_074.JPG: Spaceplanes of the Imagination: Ideas about a spacecraft with wings have been around for a long time. Even though airplanes were still a new technology in the earth 20th century, people were already starting to imagine vehicles that could rocket into and through space. Science fiction and fantasy, thoughtful theory, and engineering experiments all yielded concepts for spacecraft -- many of them winged spaceplanes.
8. GAL113_131101_078.JPG: Fantasy: Buck Rogers Wings Through Space: Winged space vehicles appeared in the science fiction of Buck Rogers, a long-running daily newspaper comic strip that first appeared in 1929. A Sunday strip, a radio program, and movies soon followed. Readers, listeners, and moviegoers in the 1930s and beyond eagerly followed the adventures of Buck and his fantastic winged spaceship.
9. GAL113_131101_083.JPG: Theory: The Silver Bird Adds Science to Fiction: While Buck Rogers fired people's imaginations about space travel, some people in the 1930s were thinking about how to create real spaceplanes. Austrian aerospace designer Eugen Sanger worked on a concept he called the Silver Bird, a combination booster rocket and glider. It had short, wedge-shaped wings and a flattened fuselage to crate lift. His spaceplane concept predated the Space Shuttle by about 30 years.
10. GAL113_131101_085.JPG: Possibility: Fiction Starts to Look Feasible: By the early 1950s, the spaceplane concept had matured to the point that it now seemed credible. Engineers and others began ot envision the coming dawn of a real space age. The popular weekly news magazine Collier's helped promote the possibility of space travel to a broad audience. Its vivid art and articles about spaceflight captured the imagination of many Americans, including Walt Disney. Notice the orbital spaceplane in von Braun's hand, and the round space station model behind him -- it's the same one displayed above and to your left.
11. GAL113_131101_088.JPG: The Exploration of Mars, 1956 Chesley Bonestell Some believed spaceplanes could have a role beyond Earth orbit. Spaceflight visionaries Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, and Chesley Bonestell published a book in 1956 describing a spaceplane journey to Mars. They envisioned a winged spacecraft that would glide through the thin Martian atmosphere to land. For the return trip, the astronauts would remove the winged stage and tilt the rocket stage upright for launch.
12. GAL113_131101_114.JPG: They're still working on this exhibit
13. GAL113_131101_126.JPG: "When I grow up I want to be an astronaut!"
14. GAL113_131101_132.JPG: Where are the Orbiters Now? NASA decided to retire the space shuttle orbiters for permanent display in four museums: * Los Angeles, CA -- Endeavor -- California Science Center * New York, NY -- Enterprise -- Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum * Chantilly, VA -- Discovery -- National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center * Kennedy Space Center, FL -- Atlantis -- Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
15. GAL113_131101_143.JPG: Space shuttle "Discovery" makes its first top-secret flight
16. GAL113_131101_149.JPG: New Route
17. GAL113_131101_153.JPG: What a Ride It's Been!
18. GAL113_131101_169.JPG: External Tank Insulation: This is a mock-up of the external tank area under the orbiter nose where foam broke loose during Columbia's final ascent. The tank's lightweight foam insulation prevented the super-cold propellants from warming up and also protected the tank from the frictional heat of passage through the atmosphere.
19. GAL113_131101_170.JPG: Living and Working in Space: How do we make a home and workplace in space? People here lived and worked in space almost continuously since the 1970s, first on Russian space stations and the US Skylab, then on Space Shuttle missions, and since 2000 on the International Space Station. The range of activities and duration of human presence in space continue to expand. Yet space is still a formidable place that presents both opportunities and hazards. Living and working beyond Earth have proven so challenging that much remained to be learned.
20. GAL113_131101_173.JPG: The Space Shuttle: 30 Years of Service: The reusable Space Shuttle carried out more kinds of missions than any other vehicle for human spaceflight. Early optimism about routine spaceflight was tempered by experience. Costs remained high, flights were less frequent than predicted, and the Challenger and Columbia tragedies served as grim reminders that spaceflight is always risky, never quite routine.
21. GAL113_131101_179.JPG: Commemorative American Flag Quilt: The Coastal Quilters Guild of Santa Barbara, California, created this memorial quilt for the family of NASA astronaut David Brown. Theirs was just one expression of the outpouring of sympathy for the astronauts' families.
22. GAL113_131101_186.JPG: The Columbia Return Tragedy: During Columbia's return from space on February 1, 2003, Mission Control suddenly lost contact with the crew and vehicle. Within moments, as debris streaked through the sky over Texas, it became clear that the orbiter had disintegrated. All seven crew members died. NASA grounded the remaining shuttles until the cause could be found and fixed.
23. GAL113_131101_188.JPG: Damaged CD from Columbia Debris: This data or music disc shows the effects of the high heat and aerodynamic forces of descent through the atmosphere.
24. GAL113_131101_195.JPG: Commemorative US Flag: This flag flew above the US Capital in Washington DC, on February 1, 2003, in memory of the seven astronauts lost that morning around Columbia.
25. GAL113_131101_200.JPG: Remembering the Last Columbia Crew: The disintegration of Space Shuttle Columbia during its return on February 1, 2003, marked the second loss of a seven-person crew in the otherwise successful Space Shuttle program. Many people touched by that loss created impromptu memorials by leaving mementos at NASA centers and other sites, including the National Air and Space Museum.
26. GAL113_131101_205.JPG: What Caused the Tragedy? Investigators discovered that, during launch, a piece of foam insulation about the size of a briefcase broke off the external tank and struck the leading edge of Columbia's left wing. The impact broke a large hole in a carbon panel that helped protect the wing edge from heat. During reentry, superheated air flowed into the wing, melted the aluminum airframe, and threw the orbiter out of control. When shuttle flights resumed in 2005, NASA put new safety measures in place, including cameras to observe the external tank for detached foam and to inspect the orbiter's wings and underside for damage. The astronauts also learned to do repairs in order if their vehicle suffered damage during launch. In a test, a piece of the tank's insulation fired from an air cannon blasted a gaping hole in a carbon leading edge panel, confirming what remnants of Columbia indicated. Other Causes: The Columbia Accident Investigation Board determined that the same causes that contributed to the Challenger tragedy also affected the fate of Columbia: flawed analysis and decision making and "a broken safety culture." The board also concluded that NASA was under pressure to "do too much with too little." After the loss of Columbia, NASA mandated a new orbital inspection procedure. Just before docking at the International Space Station, the shuttle had to do a complete nose-over-tail back flip so the crew inside the space station could photograph the entire underside. Analysts on the ground carefully studied these images for any signs of damage.
27. GAL113_131101_215.JPG: The Challenger Launch Tragedy: On the morning of January 28, 1986, people watched in horror as Space Shuttle Challenger seemed to explode barely a minute after liftoff. All seven members of the crew died. NASA grounded the Space Shuttle fleet for more than two years to find and correct the causes of this tragedy.
28. GAL113_131101_221.JPG: Hey kids. What are you doing outside? It's Super Bowl Sunday! How could you forget America's team?!! We haven't forgotten
29. GAL113_131101_236.JPG: Remembering the Last Challenger Crew: The loss of the seven astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Challenger shocked the nation and the world brought an outpouring of grief and remembrance. Because teacher Christa McAuliffe was on board, many schools around the country had arranged for students to watch the launch on television. For that generation especially, the Challenger tragedy remains an indelible memory.
30. GAL113_131101_240.JPG: What Caused the Tragedy? Investigators traced the physical cause to a rubber O-ring between segments of a solid rocket booster. In the unusually cold weather, an O-ring became still and failed to seal properly. Burning like a blowtorch, an escaping flame and exhaust gas altered the booster's thrust and burned into the external tank. The tank collapsed and released the liquid propellants, which then ignited. The aerodynamic forces of this structural collapse, not an explosion, caused the catastrophic breakup of the entire vehicle. Other Causes: Beyond the technical causes, the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident reported that flaws in the launch decision process and in safety protocols contributed to the tragedy. The commission concluded that it was "an accident rooted in history" and in "a silent safety program." Before the shuttle could fly again, NASA had to redesign the booster joints, strengthen its safety culture, and make many other changes to the Space Shuttle program to reduce the risk of another tragedy. Gases escaping through the failed O-ring seal.
31. GAL113_131101_257.JPG: Design Decisions: Designing a new spacecraft means making many choices. What it will look like depends on what it will do, how hard it will be to build and operate, and how much it will cost. NASA had to make many decisions and compromises along the way to a final design. The starting point was a two-stage concept: an aircraft-like, cargo-carrying, piloted orbiter; and a large, powerful, piloted booster, both fully reusable. Design Compromise: A Partially Reusable Space Shuttle: Because of national pressures and priorities -- including the Vietnam War and a weakening economy -- Congress cut NASA's budget and limited its funding to develop the Space Shuttle. NASA had to abandon a fully reusable launch vehicle and instead build a cheaper, partially reusable spaceplane. By the end of 1971, the orbiter was taking shape as a delta wing design. Ultimately, the orbiter and solid rocket boosters would be reusable but the external propellant tank would not. NASA's decision to build a partially reusable shuttle deliberately traded higher operating costs in the future for a lower initial development cost. This tradeoff made it hard to achieve the goal of economical spaceflight.
32. GAL113_131101_263.JPG: Design Compromise: A Partially Reusable Space Shuttle: Because of national pressures and priorities -- including the Vietnam War and a weakening economy -- Congress cut NASA's budget and limited its funding to develop the Space Shuttle. NASA had to abandon a fully reusable launch vehicle and instead build a cheaper, partially reusable spaceplane. By the end of 1971, the orbiter was taking shape as a delta wing design. Ultimately, the orbiter and solid rocket boosters would be reusable but the external propellant tank would not. NASA's decision to build a partially reusable shuttle deliberately traded higher operating costs in the future for a lower initial development cost. This tradeoff made it hard to achieve the goal of economical spaceflight.
33. GAL113_131101_269.JPG: Fully-Reusable Design: General Dynamics, Corvair: NASA preferred a two-stage, fully reusable launch vehicle. Both the propellant-loaded booster and the orbiter would fly back for reuse. Funding limits soon forced the agency to adopt a less expensive partially reusable design.
34. GAL113_131101_273.JPG: Partially Reusable Design: Lockheed Star Clipper: The Air Force favored a partially reusable spacecraft like this "stage-and-a-half" concept. The reusable lifting body orbiter was cradled between two liquid hydrogen fuel tanks that would be discarded when empty. Liquid oxygen stored in the orbiter would mix with the hydrogen fuel to power three engines during ascent. New fuel tanks would be attached when the orbiter flew again.
35. GAL113_131101_279.JPG: Straight Wing vs. Delta Wing: For a quick return after one orbit or in an emergency during ascent, the shuttle had to be able to return to the landing site. Wing shape affected how maneuverable the orbiter would be. Each choice had different merits. Does a Spacecraft Need Wings? Not in space. Wings provide lift through differences in air pressure, and there is no air in space. But if a spacecraft has to land on a runway (rather than drop into the ocean like an Apollo capsule), wings allow it to maneuver better than a wingless design. The shuttle does not start to use its wings until after reentry. At about 74 kilometers (46 miles) above Earth's surface, the atmosphere is dense enough for the wings to work for descent to landing.
36. GAL113_131101_285.JPG: Can you see how a delta wing differs from a straight wing?
37. GAL113_131101_287.JPG: Straight Wing Design: Wind Tunnel Model: Straight wings had the advantage of lighter weight and less surface heating during atmospheric reentry. But they lacked maneuverability during the approach to landing. Without engine power during the download glide, the orbiter would have to complete its descent very close to a runway.
38. GAL113_131101_289.JPG: Delta Wing Design: Wing Tunnel Model: Flared triangular (delta) wings increased lift and maneuverability, enabling the orbiter to glide farther without power. But the tradeoff was more surface heating and greater weight. The Air Force favored a wider glide path for its missions, so NASA chose the delta wing design.
39. GAL113_131101_291.JPG: (left) Two-Stage, Fully Reusable Concept Grumman/Boeing G-3 The propellant tank is inside the orbiter. (right) Two-Stage, Partially Reusable Concept Grumman/Boeing H-33 Two disposable propellant tanks are attached to the orbiter fuselage and wings.
40. GAL113_131101_295.JPG: Internal Propellant Tanks vs. External Propellant Tanks: NASA first planned to store the liquid propellants for the main engines inside the orbiter, but later decided to put them outside. Carrying the propellants in one or two disposable external tanks reduced the orbiter's size and weight but not its payload capacity. It also reduced the orbiter's development cost.
41. GAL113_131101_308.JPG: Liquid Propellant Booster vs Solid Propellant Booster: NASA studied some partially reusable designs with the orbiter mounted on a booster that would be used only once. Liquid and solid propellant boosters had different technical and cost tradeoffs.
42. GAL113_131101_311.JPG: The top half of the rocket is an external propellant tank for the orbiter. Both the rocket and the tank would be discarded during ascent. The two solid rocket boosters attach to a large external propellant tank, which fuels the shuttle's main engines. Solid Rocket Booster Concept Grumman Solid propellant technology used for missiles was cheaper and easier to handle than liquid propellants. But it had never been used for human spaceflight, because unlike liquids, once solids ignite they cannot easily be stopped. NASA reluctantly abandoned the liquid propellant booster in favor of solid propellant boosters. It also decided on something new: making the boosters reusable. This model closely resembles the final Space Shuttle design. Expendable Liquid Propellant Booster Concept North American Rockwell Among the liquid propellant booster options, this one was a modified first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Liquid propellants had always been used for human spaceflight, but they were hard to store and handle.
43. GAL113_131101_314.JPG: Solid Rocket Booster Concept Grumman Solid propellant technology used for missiles was cheaper and easier to handle than liquid propellants. But it had never been used for human spaceflight, because unlike liquids, once solids ignite they cannot easily be stopped. NASA reluctantly abandoned the liquid propellant booster in favor of solid propellant boosters. It also decided on something new: making the boosters reusable. This model closely resembles the final Space Shuttle design.
44. GAL113_131101_316.JPG: Expendable Liquid Propellant Booster Concept North American Rockwell Among the liquid propellant booster options, this one was a modified first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Liquid propellants had always been used for human spaceflight, but they were hard to store and handle.
45. GAL113_131101_328.JPG: Returning from Space: Protection: A complex new thermal protection system shielded the shuttle during its return from space. The shutter orbiter's airframe was mainly lightweight aluminum -- melting point: 1,220 degrees F (660 degrees C). During reentry, friction heated the vehicle's underside to nearly 3,000 degrees F (1,650 degrees C). To protect against the intense heat, the orbiter was covered with lightweight, heat-resistant tiles, panels, and blankets. These kept the shuttle's exterior surface temperature at less than 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) -- searing to the touch, but safe for the spacecraft.
46. GAL113_131101_332.JPG: Thermal Protection System: Different kinds of heat-resistant materials protected different parts of the orbiter. The heat shield, like the vehicle, was reusable; it did not burn away during reentry. Carbon Panels: Areas hotter than 2,300 degrees F (1,260 degrees C): Reinforced carbon-carbon, a highly heat-resistant gray material, shielded the hottest areas: the nose cap and leading edges of the wings. Blankets: Areas less than 1,200 degrees F (650 degrees C): Over time, flexible ceramic insulation blankets, both quilted and smooth, replaced many white tiles because they were lighter in weight and easier to install and maintain. White Tiles: Areas less than 1,200 degrees F (650 degrees C): White tiles without a glass coating protected areas on the sides and top of the orbiter exposed to less extreme temperatures. Tiles: Reusable tiles made of silica fibers derived from sand protected broad areas exposed to extreme temperatures. They blocked as much as 95 percent of the reentry heat form reaching the skin of the orbiter. Black Tiles; Areas 1,200 to 2,300 degrees F (650 to 1,260 degrees C): Tiles coated with black glass reflected heat away from the underside and parts of the forward and aft fuselage.
47. GAL113_131101_337.JPG: Damaged Tiles
48. GAL113_131101_339.JPG: The Gap Filler: Fillers between tiles completed the thermal barrier and also kept the tiles from chafing against each other.
49. GAL113_131101_342.JPG: A Remarkable Flying Machine: For 30 years, the Space Shuttle was the only US launch vehicle for human spaceflight. It was world's first reusable spacecraft. The Space Shuttle combined features of a rocket, a spacecraft, and a glider. No other flying machine launched into space, served as both a crew habitat and cargo carrier, maneuvered in orbit, then returned from space to land on a runway -- and flew again and again.
50. GAL113_131101_344.JPG: A Team of Thousands: A dedicated workforce across the nation kept the Space Shuttle ready to fly. The Space Shuttle was the most complex space vehicle ever built. To meet the goal of routine spaceflight, shuttles had to be readied to fly over and over. At any time, a workforce equivalent to the population of a sizable town took care of each shuttle in space and on the ground. They tended it from drawing board to shop floor to launch pad, and from landing to launching, again and again. The technical expertise of this team of thousands was a national treasure.
51. GAL113_131101_366.JPG: Buck Rogers Patrol Ship Wind-Up Toy: Buck Rogers' spaceship combined the fantasy world of space travel with the exciting new world of air travel during aviation's "golden age." With this Louis Marx action toy from 1934, you could imagine yourself zipping through space in Buck's own winged rocket plane.
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Description of Subject Matter: Moving Beyond Earth
November 19, 2009 – March 27, 2022
This exhibition explores the achievements and challenges of human spaceflight in the United States during the space shuttle and space station era through artifacts, immersive experiences, and interactive computer stations. Highlights include:
* A space shuttle main engine and middeck crew cabin outfitted for flight
* An autonomous robot and flown-in-space science experiment apparatus
* Astronaut clothing and crew equipment
* Shuttle toys and space memorabilia
* A 12-foot-tall space-shuttle model and other launch-vehicle models
* A presentation center for live events, broadcasts, and webcasts
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 113: (a) Moving Beyond Earth) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2014_DC_SIAIR_Gall113A: DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 113: (a) Moving Beyond Earth (41 photos from 2014)
- 2010_DC_SIAIR_Gall113A: DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 113: (a) Moving Beyond Earth (14 photos from 2010)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(Smithsonian) Air and Space Museum (Everything)] [(Smithsonian) Air and Space Museum (Non-Events)] [Museums (History)]
2013 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used my Fuji XS-1 camera but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000 and Nikon D600. Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Memphis, TN, Jackson, MS [to which I added a week to to visit sites in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee], and Richmond, VA), and my 8th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including sites in Nevada and California). Ego Strokes: Aviva Kempner used my photo of her as her author photo in Larry Ruttman's "American Jews & America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball" book. Number of photos taken this year: just over 570,000.
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Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].