• Space Exploration—How Far Has Man Gone?
    Awake!—1992 | September 8

    • The Complicated Shuttles

      In recent years the world has thrilled to see the manned shuttle orbiters launched into space. Have you ever thought about the complexity of the whole operation? Of how many things could go wrong and lead to disaster? For example, engineers have struggled with such problems as how to keep the shuttle engines cool at blast-​off to prevent them from melting from their own heat. “During the first few years of testing, one engine after another melted down and exploded” writes Trento. Then, there is the need to ignite the two solid-​fuel booster rockets absolutely simultaneously so that the whole apparatus does not cartwheel to destruction. These factors certainly helped to increase the costs.

      The first successful launch came on April 12, 1981. As the two-​man crew of John Young and Robert Crippen sat strapped into their seats, each of the three shuttle engines produced a thrust of 375,000 pounds [170,000 kg]. According to Trento, some of the scientists wondered: “Would this be victory or would the dream cartwheel into the Florida swamps? If the solids did not ignite within a second of each other there would be conflagration on pad 39A. . . . At zero the solids fired. White steam filled the horizon and the hold-​down bolts broke loose. The crew could hear the roar. They felt the swing of the vehicle and the surge of energy.” They were successful. “For the first time in U.S. history, Americans had climbed aboard an unproven rocket system and flown it. . . . The most sophisticated vehicle ever built worked.” A new breed of Columbuses was born. But not without dangers​—and not without a price. The Challenger disaster of 1986 that resulted in the loss of seven astronauts is testimony to that fact.

      On that first flight, color photographs showed that heat resistant tiles, vital for reentry at temperatures of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit [1,100° C], were missing from the bottom of the orbiter. The scientists needed to take a closer look to assess the damage. No earth-​based cameras were powerful enough to give a clear picture of Columbia’s damaged belly. So, what was the solution? The KH-11 spy satellite was out there in orbit above the shuttle. It was decided to turn the orbiter upside down in relation to the earth so that its belly would face the satellite. The results sent back to earth assured the NASA people that no large areas of tile were missing. The mission was not in jeopardy.