T. A. Heppenheimer - History of the Space Shuttle, Volume 2: Development of the Space Shuttle, 1972-1981

By special arrangement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, History Office, this publication is being offered for sale by Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C. 20560-0950.

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Production editor: Ruth W. Spiegel
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heppenheimer, T. A., 1947
History of the space shuttle / T. A. Heppenheimer.
p. cm.
Includes biographical references and index.
Contents: v.1. Development of the space shuttle, 19651972
v. 2. Development of the space shuttle, 19721981.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-58834-441-0
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-58834-009-2
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-58834-285-0
1. Space shuttlesUnited StatesHistory. I. Title.
TL795.5 .H4697 2002
629.4410973dc21

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data available

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v3.1

To Connie and to Raizel, who look toward the future

Evolution of the Space Shuttle Configuration

Space Shuttle with 150,000-Pound Orbiter

Orbiter Wing Structure

Vertical Stabilizer

Orbiter Crew Cabin and Forward Fuselage

NASA Management

Britains Blue Streak Compared with the Atlas and Thor

Comparison of Europa, Delta, Ariane, and Atlas-Centaur

General Layout of Spacelab

External Tank

Solid Rocket Booster

Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-6 Concept, c. 1980

Concept for a Five-Engine Installation on the Orbiter

X-24B Lifting Body, Escorted by an F-104 Chase Plane

Cutaway View of the Orbiter

Enterprise on Public Display

The Mate-Demate Facility at Edwards Air Force Base

Approach and Landing Test Flight Profile

Enterprise and Its Boeing 747 Taxi to the Runway

Enterprise Separates from Its Carrier Aircraft

Enterprise Dives Steeply Toward Runway

Flow Diagram for the Space Shuttle Main Engine

Space Shuttle Main Engine Components

Rocket Engine Test Facilities in the Santa Susana Mountains

Space Shuttle Main Engine with Short Nozzle

The Whirl Problem in the Fuel Turbopump

High-Pressure Oxygen Turbopump

Remains of an Oxygen Turbopump

Space Shuttle Main Engine Arrives on a Flatbed Truck

of a Space Shuttle Main Engine in Mississippi

Space Shuttle Main Engine Fuel Preburner

Space Shuttle Main Engine under Test at Rocketdyne

Main Propulsion Test Article with Its External Tank

Main Propulsion Test Article External Tank on Test Stand

Space Shuttle Main Engine Firing on Test Stand

Space Shuttle Main Engine Test History

Cross-Section of a Solid Rocket Motor Field Joint

Drop Test

Test of Thiokols Solid Rocket Motor in Utah

Transport by Barge of an External Tank

Hoisting Enterprise into Position at NASA-Marshall

Orbital Maneuvering System

Reaction Control System

Orbiter Systems Actuated by Hydraulics

Auxiliary Power Unit with Exhaust Ports

Installation of Thermal Protection System Tiles

Thermal Protection System

Thermal Protection System Interfaces

Thermal-Protection Tiles on the Underside of the Fuselage

Thermal-Protection Tiles on the Underside of a Wing

Development of Capability in Computational Fluid Dynamics

Scale Model of the Shuttle Orbiter in a Wind Tunnel

STA-099 Being Readied for Structural Tests at Lockheed

STA-099 within Its Test Rig

Environmental Control and Life Support System

Payload Bay Doors

Remote Manipulator System

Orbiter Aft Mission Station

Detailed Cross-Section of a Solid Rocket Motor Joint

Shuttle Data Bus Networks

The Rotational Hand Controller

Orbiter Flight Deck

Work Breakdown Structure for the Space Shuttle Main Engine

A Space Tug Concept

Centaur Upper Stage with Space Tug Concept Designed as a Derivative

Inertial Upper Stage Configurations Compared to the Centaur Upper Stage

The Titan III Family

New Launch Vehicles of the 1980s

Shuttle Facilities at the Kennedy Space Center

Hold-Down Posts Secure the Solid Rocket Boosters

A Test Pilot Trains within a Space Shuttle Simulator

Enterprise atop Its Mobile Launch Platform

Enterprise Rides a Crawler-Transporter

Enterprise at Its Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad

Columbia Being Mated to Its External Tank

Use of a Forklift Truck Installing a Space Shuttle Main Engine

Liftoff of Columbia, 12 April 1981

Cutaway View of Spacelab

Space Stations Supported by the Shuttle

NASA Budget Summary (in Thousands of Dollars)

GAOs Permissible Overruns, 1972

Program Cost Estimates

NASAs Total Program Cost Estimates

Subcontracted Elements of the Shuttle Program

European and American Objectives in the Space Shuttle Program

Percentage of European National Contributions, 1973

Comparison of S-II and External Tank

Rankings of Thiokol and Lockheed

Weight in Orbit (in Pounds)

Flight Tests of Enterprise, 1977

Component Tests at Coca-1

Strength of Standard TPS

Strength of Densified TPS

Vibration Data: Orbiter

Vibration Data: Complete Shuttle

Fuel-Cell Characteristics, Apollo and Shuttle

Comparison of Three Computer Systems

Allocation of Shuttle Orbiter Data Buses

Software for STS-1

Capabilities of Existing Upper Stages

NASA Budgets, 19721981 (in Billions of Current-Year Dollars)

Shuttle Overrun Estimate, 1975

SALT II Numerical Limits, 1979

DDT&E Shuttle Program Costs, Discounted to 1971 Dollars (in Millions of Dollars)

Recommended Costs per Flight, 1976 (in Millions of Dollars)

T he development of the space shuttle is a large topic, and no single author can hope to cover the pertinent technologies without considerable support. I indeed received such assistance in writing this book, and it is a pleasure to note the people who helped me.

The management of Rocketdyne was particularly supportive. My interviewees there included Program Manager John Plowden, Fred Jue, Bob Biggs, and Maynard Joe Stangeland. Several key people who now are retired gave interviews as well: Paul Castenholz, Ed Larson, and Willy Wilhelm. Bob Biggs also reviewed my draft chapter on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) and helped to improve its accuracy.

I received additional support within NASA. Dave Geiger and Boyce Mix hosted a visit of several days at the Stennis Space Center. There I saw two SSMEs in tests at full duration while receiving good help in the archives from historian Mack Herring. J. R. Thompson, former SSME project manager at NASA-Marshall, gave an interview as well. Other key interviewees included Dale Myers and Hans Mark.

Dennis R. Jenkins, author of Space Shuttle (Stillwater, Minn.: Voyageur Press, 2001), provided valuable help with this book. He gave a lengthy and critical review of the text. He generously shared many line drawings and photos that he had used in his own book and that now appear in this one. In addition, he shared his considerable knowledge of the Launch Processing System (LPS). In this fashion he greatly improved my initial treatment of the LPS, which was both sketchy and inadequate.