Image:747 Captive Flight.jpg

[edit] Summary

First Shuttle/747 Captive Flight Photo Number: ECN-6887 Photo Date: February 1977 Formats: 524x480 JPEG Image (61 KBytes) 1117x1023 JPEG Image (392 KBytes) 3000x2750 JPEG Image (4,709 KBytes) Photo Description: The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise rides smoothly atop NASA's first Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), NASA 905, during the first of the shuttle program's Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in 1977. During the nearly one year-long series of tests, Enterprise was taken aloft on the SCA to study the aerodynamics of the mated vehicles and, in a series of five free flights, tested the glide and landing characteristics of the orbiter prototype. In this photo, the main engine area on the aft end of Enterprise is covered with a tail cone to reduce aerodynamic drag that affects the horizontal tail of the SCA, on which tip fins have been installed to increase stability when the aircraft carries an orbiter.

Project Description: The Space Shuttle Approach and Landings Tests (ALT) program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle and the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) handled during low-speed flight and landing. The Enterprise, a prototype of the Space Shuttles, and the SCA were flown to conduct the approach and landing tests at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from February to October 1977. The first flight of the program consisted of the Space Shuttle Enterprise attached to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. These flights were to determine how well the two vehicles flew together. Five "captive-inactive" flights were flown during this first phase in which there was no crew in the Enterprise. The next series of captive flights was flown with a flight crew of two on board the prototype Space Shuttle. Only three such flights proved necessary. This led to the free-flight test series.

The free-flight phase of the ALT program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle handled in low-speed flight and landing attitudes. For these landings, the Enterprise was flown by a crew of two after it was released from the top of the SCA. The vehicle was released at altitudes ranging from 19,000 to 26,000 feet.

The Enterprise had no propulsion system, but its first four glides to the Rogers Dry Lake runway provided realistic, in-flight simulations of how subsequent Space Shuttles would be flown at the end of an orbital mission. The fifth approach and landing test, with the Enterprise landing on the Edwards Air Force Base concrete runway, revealed a problem with the Space Shuttle flight control system that made it susceptible to Pilot-Induced Oscillation (PIO), a potentially dangerous control problem during a landing. Further research using other NASA aircraft, especially the F-8 Digital-Fly-By-Wire aircraft, led to correction of the PIO problem before the first orbital flight.

The Enterprise’s last free-flight was October 26, 1977, after which it was ferried to other NASA centers for ground-based flight simulations that tested Space Shuttle systems and structure.

NASA Photo by: NASA Keywords: Enterprise; Approach and Landing Tests (ALT); Dryden Flight Research Center; Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA); Boeing 747; PIO; Edwards Air Force Base; Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA); Boeing 747; PIO; Edwards Air Force Base Keywords: STS Approach and Landing Test (ALT) movie gallery Space Shuttle at Dryden Fact Sheet

    Dryden Home > Collections > Photo Home > STS Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) > Photo # ECN-6887

source:http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/ALT/HTML/ECN-6887.html

This image or video was catalogued by Dryden Flight Research Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: ECN-6887. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.

[edit] Licensing

This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy). Deutsch | English | Español | Français | Nederlands | Português | Русский | ‪中文(简体)‬ | ‪中文(繁體)‬ | +/-

Warnings: Use of NASA logos, insignia and emblems are restricted per US law 14 CFR 1221. The NASA website hosts a large number of images from the Soviet/Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies. These are not necessarily in the public domain. Materials from the Hubble Space Telescope may be copyrighted if they do not explicitly come from the STScI. [1] All materials created by the SOHO probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use. [2] Images featured on the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) web site may be copyrighted. [3]

La page ci-dessous contient cette image :

• Winglet