Baseline Vehicle Sizing
B-52 Clearances and Constraints
B-52 Clearances and Constraints
B-52 Constraints Physical Space Available
X-24C/B-52 Interface
Ablator Surface Area – Mach 6/1033K
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
File source: NASA NTRS
Image credit: Martin Marietta
File source: NASA NTRS
If you were lucky enough to attend the New York 1964 World’s Fair, one of the treats was a documentary film presentation at the Science Pavilion. Rendezvous in Space, a film about the future of space exploration was directed by Frank Capra, and features a cast of notable Hollywood voice actors including Mel Blanc, June Foray, and Alan Reed. You can watch the complete film here.
At this point, the screen goes black with only audio, as the audience’s gaze is directed above to the full-sized models of the Space Taxi docking with the station, which would have looked something like this:
I imagine it was quite the spectacle. Anyway, after that it’s time for home.
Image credit: Martin Marietta
Image source: Numbers Station
Figure 1.- Photograph of the Douglas X-3 research airplane.
Figure 2.- Three-view drawing of the Douglas X-3 research airplane.
Image credit: NACA
File source: NASA NTRS
Image credit: Convair
Image source: SDASM Archives
This is an artist’s concept of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth’s atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is approximately the size of a railroad car, with two cylinders joined together and wrapped in a silvery reflective heat shield blanket. Wing-like solar arrays extend horizontally from each side of these cylinders, and dish-shaped anternas extend above and below the body of the telescope. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.
Image credit: NASA MSFC
Image source: NASA Images
This artist concept shows the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in operational configuration orbiting the Earth after its deployment from Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103 during STS-31. The high gain antennas (HGAs) and solar arrays (SAs) have been extended. HST’s aperture door is open as it views the universe from a vantage point above the Earth’s atmosphere. View provided by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).
Image credit: NASA MSFC
Image source: NASA Images
Image credit: Grumman
Image source: Cradle of Aviation Museum
