Well, the sonic booms woke us up this morning...

XMEN Ashaman DTM · Post by **XMEN Ashaman DTM** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 7:53 am

when the shuttle landed at Edwards.

It was a loud "BOOM" "BOOM" that shook the windows. We jumped up and ran outside onto our balcony because we could see the shuttle streaking in and it flew over the house.

When we got outside, there were several other people out there doing the same thing. It was kind of funny.

RoosterDTM · Post by **RoosterDTM** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:35 am

Haha, Suddenly I have an image of Asha running out of his house w/ a pillow over his jollies and a severe case of bed head...

BlackRider · Post by **BlackRider** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:35 am

Its nice to see a happy landing.

I wonder what the stall speed is for that thing. So big with such stubby wings.

TimberWolf · Post by **TimberWolf** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:41 am

One of these days before they scrap the Shuttle, I would like to watch a launch and landing in person. I would also want to be a crew member on a space ship that goes between the planets or be stationed on the Luner Base (either as part of its construction team or as an engineer on a later assignment).

The Space Shuttle is a thing of beauty and I hope they can fix the foam problem soon so we can see more of them fly.

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 7:54 pm

If I hadn't been in the shower, I'd have seen & heard the Columbia explosion over Texas that February morning.

BR, I don't know what the stall speed is, but I've landed a simulator at JSC a few times. It has the flight characteristics of a cinder block glued to a chunk of plywood.

Ok, so I'm exaggerating, but it FEELS like it...

XMEN Ashaman DTM · Post by **XMEN Ashaman DTM** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:43 pm

Actually, Gambit, take the plywood away and you've got it.

The shuttle's glide ratio is something less than one. Delta wings are not the best wings (not even close!), so their stall speeds are fairly high, they have horrible stability problems, and they don't glide very well.

But if you have thrust, the wing loading is so high that they can have great flying characteristics. Plus, for a re-entry vehicle, a delta wing is one of the better shapes to have; it means that you don't have a ballistic trajectory upon reentry, which means that you can make it to alternate landing sites. With a capsule, you have an area of probability and you need parachutes. With something like Spaceship One, you let the craft's dynamics take you in slowly in a very controlled descent.

I forgot to mention that I also saw the ISS fly over at about the same time.

And later that day at work, I could see the shuttle sitting on the ramp getting prepped for moving it. The place that I was standing when I saw it will never be seen on TV (because of the nature of that area), but I was probably about 150 yards from the shuttle.

XMEN Ashaman DTM · Post by **XMEN Ashaman DTM** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:44 pm

Oh yeah, stall speed for the shuttle is just under 200 knots. It landed at 200 knots this last time.

TsN|Wildchild|xmen · Post by **TsN|Wildchild|xmen** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:08 pm

I don't know why I keep coming back here... you guys are totally to smart for me...

The fact you know what the stall speed is... is scaryily cool.

I watched the launch on www.Nasa.tv It was kinda cool, but I would one day love to actually go in person and see it as well as actually be a passenger on one.

Ah to have dreams...

X Rogue · Post by **X Rogue** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 7:39 am

I didn't see the Columbia explosion, but I'm pretty sure I heard a boom. Dunno for sure tho.

And the NASA peeps refer to the shuttle as the Flying Brick for good reason. That thing is a pain in the Capitol Rotunda to land.

XMEN Iceman · Post by **XMEN Iceman** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:54 am

I saw the breakup of the shuttle....knew something was wrong from the multiple pieces and their smoke trails. It just did not look right.

Dang...stall speed of 200mph??? Crap...I knew it had a parachute for braking but dang...that is landing fast when you consider a Piper Cub has a stall speed near 35-50mph.

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 6:20 pm

Heh. A Piper Cub does not ride millions of pounds of exploding fuel into orbit.

200 mph is nothing compared to orbital speeds.

But to your point, yes, I'm sure it's a LOT of fun to land for real. A sim such as the one I've done wouldn't do it justice, if only for the gut reactions.

BlackRider · Post by **BlackRider** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 7:22 pm

kinda strange having touch down when you're still, what, 20 feet up?