Plane Carrying Space Shuttle Drawing

Extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters

Shuttle Carrier Shipping
NASA'south Shuttle Carrier Shipping 905 (foreground) and 911 (background)
Office	Outsize cargo freight shipping
Manufacturer	Boeing
Introduction	1977
Retired	2012
Condition	Retired, both aircraft preserved
Principal users	NASA Boeing
Number built	2
Adult from	Boeing 747–100

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to send Infinite Shuttle orbiters. I is a 747–100 model, while the other is a short range 747-100SR.

The SCAs were used to ferry Infinite Shuttles from landing sites dorsum to the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. The orbiters were placed on top of the SCAs by Mate-Demate Devices, big gantry-like structures that hoisted the orbiters off the ground for mail service-flight servicing then mated them with the SCAs for ferry flights.

In approach and landing exam flights conducted in 1977, the examination shuttle Enterprise was released from an SCA during flight and glided to a landing under its own command.^[1]

Pattern and development [edit]

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy was considered for the shuttle-carrier office by NASA, merely rejected in favor of the 747. This was due to the 747'southward low-fly pattern in comparison to the C-5's high-wing design, and as well considering the U.S. Air Force would have retained ownership of the C-five, while NASA could own the 747s outright.

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N905NA, in American Airlines livery, with Enterprise in 1978

The beginning shipping, a Boeing 747–123 registered N905NA, was originally manufactured for American Airlines. With a decline in air traffic and failure to fill up their 747s, American Airlines sold it to NASA. Upon testing, it withal wore the visible American cheatlines while testing Enterprise in the 1970s. It was caused in 1974 and initially used for trailing wake vortex research as part of a broader study by NASA Dryden, too equally Shuttle tests involving an F-104 flying in close formation and simulating a release from the 747.

The shipping was extensively modified for NASA by Boeing in 1976.^[ii] While outset-class seats were kept for NASA passengers, its master cabin and insulation were stripped,^[three] and the fuselage was strengthened. Mounting struts were added on peak of the 747, located to match the fittings on the Shuttle that attach it to the external fuel tank for launch.^[4] With the Shuttle riding on top, the heart of gravity was altered. Vertical stabilizers were added to the tail to amend stability when the Orbiter was being carried. The avionics and engines were as well upgraded.

An internal escape slide was added behind the flying deck^[5] in instance of catastrophic failure mid-flight. In the event of a bail-out, explosives would be detonated to make an opening in the fuselage at the bottom of the slide, allowing the coiffure to exit through the slide and parachute to the footing. The slide system was removed following the Approach and Landing Tests because of concerns over the possibility of escaping crew members being ingested into an engine.^[vi]

Flying with the additional drag and weight of the Orbiter imposed pregnant fuel and altitude penalties. The range was reduced to one,000 nautical miles (ane,200 mi; ane,900 km), compared to an unladen range of 5,500 nautical miles (6,300 mi; 10,200 km), requiring an SCA to stop several times to refuel on a transcontinental flying.^[7] Without the Orbiter, the SCA needed to carry anchor to rest its center of gravity.^[iii] The SCA had an altitude ceiling of 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.vi with the orbiter attached.^[7] A crew of 170 took a week to ready the shuttle and SCA for flight.^[8]

Studies were conducted to equip the SCA with aerial refueling equipment, a modification already made to the U.Southward. Air Force Eastward-4 (modified 747-200s) and 747 tanker transports for the IIAF. Even so, during formation flying with a tanker aircraft to test refueling approaches, minor cracks were spotted on the tailfin of N905NA. While these were not likely to have been caused by the exam flights, it was felt that there was no sense taking unnecessary risks. Since there was no urgent demand to provide an aerial refueling capacity, the tests were suspended.

Past 1983, SCA N905NA no longer carried the distinct American Airlines tricolor cheatline. NASA replaced information technology with its own livery, consisting of a white fuselage and a single blue cheatline.^[ix] That year, afterward secretly existence fitted with an infrared countermeasures system to protect it from rut-seeking missiles,^[10] was too used to fly Enterprise on a tour in Europe, with refueling stops in Goose Bay, Canada; Keflavik, Iceland; England; and Westward Federal republic of germany. It then went to the Paris Air Show.^[8]

In 1988, in the wake of the Challenger accident, NASA procured a surplus 747SR-46 from Japan Airlines. Registered N911NA, it entered service with NASA in 1990 after undergoing modifications similar to N905NA. It was first used in 1991 to ferry the new shuttle Attempt from the manufacturers in Palmdale, California to Kennedy Infinite Center.

Humorous note on Orbiter Mount reminding technicians how to connect the orbiter to the ship

Based at the Dryden Flight Research Center within Edwards Air Strength Base in California^[iii] the ii aircraft were functionally identical, although N911NA has 5 upper-deck windows on each side, while N905NA has only two. The rear mounting points on both shipping were labeled with humorous instructions to "attach orbiter here" or "place orbiter here", clarified past the precautionary note "blackness side down".^{[11] [12]}

Shuttle Carriers were capable of operating from alternative shuttle landing sites such every bit those in the Uk, Spain, and France. Considering Shuttle Carrier'southward range is reduced while mated to an orbiter, additional preparations such as removal of the payload from the orbiter may accept been necessary to reduce its weight.^[13]

Silhouettes listing the number of ferry and complimentary flights of the various Orbiters and the Phantom Ray on the port side of the SCA

Boeing transported its Phantom Ray unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator from St. Louis, Missouri, to Edwards on a Shuttle Carrier on December 11, 2010.^[fourteen]

Approach and Landing Tests [edit]

The Approach and Landing Tests were a series of taxi and flight trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise, conducted at Edwards Air Forcefulness Base in 1977. They verified the shuttle's flying characteristics when mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and when flying on its ain, prior to the Shuttle system becoming operational. There were three taxi tests, 8 captive flight tests and five costless flight tests.^[5]

Ferry flights [edit]

Discovery and SCA 905 at Vandenberg AFB, November 6, 1983

Ferry flights generally transported the orbiters from Edwards Air Force Base, the shuttle's secondary landing site, to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center where the orbiter was processed. This was common in the early on days of the Infinite Shuttle plan when weather condition conditions at the SLF prevented the shuttle from landing there. Some flights started at the Dryden Flight Research Centre post-obit delivery of the orbiter from Rockwell International to NASA from the nearby facilities in Palmdale, California.^[15]

At the cease of the Space Shuttle program the SCA was used to deliver the retired orbiters from the Kennedy Space Center to their museums. Discovery was delivered to the Udvar-Hazy Centre of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Infinite Museum in Chantilly, Virginia, most Washington, D.C. on April 19, 2012. On April 17, 2012, Discovery was flown atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft escorted by a NASA T-38 Talon chase aircraft in a final adieu flight. The 747 and Discovery flew over Washington, D.C. and the metropolitan area around 10 a.m. and arrived at Dulles around 11 a.1000. The flyover and landing were widely covered on national news media.

The terminal ferry flight took Attempt from Kennedy Space Center to Los Angeles between September 19 and 21, 2012 via Ellington Field and Edwards Air Force Base. After leaving Edwards the SCA with Endeavour performed low level flyovers above various landmarks across California, from Sacramento to the San Francisco Bay Area, and finally to Los Angeles. Endeavour was delivered to Los Angeles International Airdrome (LAX). From at that place the orbiter was transported through the streets of Los Angeles and Inglewood to its final destination in the California Science Heart in Exposition Park.

Retirement [edit]

N911NA sits on display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale, California, in June 2015

Shuttle Carrier N911NA was retired on February eight, 2012, after its last mission to the Dryden Flight Inquiry Facility at Edwards Air Force Base in Palmdale, California, and was used as a source of parts for NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft, another modified Boeing 747.^[16] N911NA is at present preserved and on display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale, California as office of a long-term loan to the city from NASA.^{[17] [xviii]}

Shuttle Carrier N905NA was used to ferry the retired Space Shuttles to their respective museums. Subsequently delivering Endeavour to the Los Angeles International Airport in September 2012, the aircraft was flown to the Dryden Flight Research Facility, where NASA intended it to bring together N911NA every bit a source of spare parts for NASA's SOFIA shipping,^{[16] [19]} but when NASA engineers surveyed N905NA they determined that it had few parts usable for SOFIA. In 2013, a decision was made to preserve N905NA and display it at Infinite Centre Houston with the mockup shuttle Independence mounted on its back.^[20] N905NA was flown to Ellington Field where it was carefully dismantled, ferried to the Johnson Space Centre in seven major pieces (a procedure called The Large Movement), reassembled, and finally mated with the replica shuttle in August 2014.^[21] The display, called Independence Plaza, opened to the public for the first time on January 23, 2016.

Specifications [edit]

Information from Boeing 747–100 specifications^[22] Jenkins 2000^[7]

General characteristics

• Crew: 4: pilot, co-pilot, 2 flight engineers (ane flight engineer when not carrying Shuttle)
• Length: 231 ft 4 in (70.51 grand)
• Wingspan: 195 ft viii in (59.64 k)
• Pinnacle: 63 ft five in (19.33 m)
• Wing area: 5,500 sq ft (510 m²)
• Empty weight: 318,000 lb (144,242 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 710,000 lb (322,051 kg)
• Powerplant: four × Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7J turbofan engines, l,000 lbf (220 kN) thrust each

Performance

• Cruise speed: 250 kn (290 mph, 460 km/h) / M0.6 with Shuttle Orbiter loaded
• Range: ane,150 nmi (1,320 mi, ii,130 km) with Shuttle Orbiter loaded
• Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 yard) with Shuttle Orbiter loaded

Run across also [edit]

• Airborne aircraft carrier – Type of mother ship aircraft which can conduct, launch, recollect and support other smaller aircraft

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Antonov An-225 Mriya – Soviet/Ukrainian heavy strategic cargo aircraft
• Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy – Infrared telescope organization mounted on a converted Boeing 747
• Conroy Virtus – Proposed American large transport aircraft intended to carry the Space Shuttle
• Myasishchev VM-T – Conversion of Soviet M-4 Molot bomber to deport outsized cargo

Related lists

• Listing of Boeing 747 operators

References [edit]

1. ^ NASA Dryden Flight Research Eye (1977). "Shuttle Enterprise Costless Flight". National Aeronautics and Space Assistants. ECN-8607. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2007.
2. ^ Jenkins, Dennis R. (2000). Boeing 747-100/200/300/SP. AirlinerTech Series. Vol. half dozen. Specialty Printing. pp. 36–38. ISBN1-58007-026-4.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Brack, Jon (September 17, 2012). "Inside the Infinite Shuttle Carrier Aircraft". National Geographic . Retrieved September 17, 2012.
4. ^ How was Enterprise Held and Released from the Carrier 747
5. ^ ^{a b} Arroyo and Landing Test Evaluation Team (February 1978). Space Shuttle Orbiter Approach and Landing Test: Terminal Evaluation Study (PDF). Houston: National Aeronautics and Infinite Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Middle. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
6. ^ Creech, Gray (August 22, 2003). "Gravel Haulers: NASA'due south 747 Shuttle Carriers" (Press release). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
7. ^ ^{a b c} Jenkins (2000), pp. 38–39.
8. ^ ^{a b} Gilette, Felix (August 9, 2005). "How the Infinite Shuttle Flies Home". Slate . Retrieved June 1, 2019.
9. ^ Comparison of photos taken in 1982 and 1983 at Airliners.net
10. ^ Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick and Tyler. "Infinite Shuttle Conveying 747 Was Secretly Modified To Defend Itself From Heat-Seeking Missiles (Updated)". The Bulldoze . Retrieved Jan 29, 2022.
11. ^ 2003 Edwards Air Strength Base Air Prove, run into Shuttle Carrier images.
12. ^ Shuttle Carrier Shipping N911NA anthology on Photobucket
13. ^ "Infinite Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) Sites" (PDF). National Aeronautics and Infinite Administration. December 2006. Retrieved July one, 2009.
14. ^ Boeing Phantom Ray to grab shuttle ride at Lambert
15. ^ "STS Chronology". National Aeronautics and Space Assistants.
16. ^ ^{a b} NASA'due south Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 911's Terminal Flying
17. ^ Gibbs, Yvonne (September 12, 2014). "Final Journey: SCA 911 on Brandish at Davies Airpark" (Press release). National Helmsmanship and Space Administration. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
18. ^ Gibbs, Yvonne (September 24, 2014). "NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: Shuttle Carrier Shipping". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
19. ^ Landis, Tony. "A graphic history of 35 years of Infinite Shuttle ferry flights now adorns the upper forwards fuselage of NASA Shuttle Carrier Shipping 905". National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
20. ^ "Houston's Shuttle Gets New Name, Familiar Ride". Spaceflight Insider. October eight, 2013.
21. ^ Hays, Brooks (Baronial 14, 2014). "Shuttle replica lifted and put on top of 747 carrier". SpaceDaily. United Press International.
22. ^ Boeing 747–100 Technical Specifications, Boeing

Further reading [edit]

• Jenkins, Dennis R. (2001). Infinite Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation Organization, The First 100 Missions (3rd ed.). Midland Publishing. ISBN0-9633974-5-1.

External links [edit]

• NASA fact canvass
• NASA SCA images
• Interview with SCA Pilot and Former Astronaut Gordon Fullerton
• Interview with SCA Crew Chief Pete Seidl
• "Hoot Gibson talks about John Kiker's 747 ferry model" on YouTube
• Historic American Engineering science Record (HAER) No. TX-116-L, "Space Transportation Organization, Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Harris County, TX", 8 photos, three color transparencies, 3 photo explanation pages

wadeslin1939.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft

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