Shuttle i equatorial orbit?

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 17:16:15 +0200, N. Foldager wrote:

Would it be possible for todays Shuttles to achieve equatorial orbit
(should it have a purpose) and return to KSC (or Dryden)?

Not if launched from KSC. They'd need to be launched from much nearer
the equator to go into equatorial orbit. Not enough fuel to do the plane
changes you require.

Could it (theoretically!) reach polar orbit?

I think you can go into polar orbit from anywhere. We all live on some
line of longitude. That's all you need. Range safety would be a practical
limiting factor, though.

Dale

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 21:59:25 +0200, N. Foldager wrote:


Even more theoretic, then, if the Shuttle anyway was in an equatorial
orbit, would it be able to reach KSC or Dryden ?

Since nobody else has answered, I guess you're at the mercy of
my understanding of these things

No, the Shuttle couldn't land at KSC or Dryden from an equatorial
orbit.

When the shuttle was designed, the Air Force wanted to be able
to launch it from Vandenberg Air Force base into a polar orbit (like
spy satellites use) and then be able to return to Vandenberg after
one orbit (either by design or due to an emergency). Since the Earth
rotates under a spacecraft while it's in orbit, after one orbit the Shuttle
would be about 1000 miles west of Vandenberg AFB. The shuttle was
designed to be able to fly this far back to Vandenberg once it got back
into the atmosphere and its wings allowed it to fly as a glider. This
is the Shuttle's "cross range" capability.

Well, to try to wrap this up, the equator, of course, is at 0 degrees.
KSC is at 28.5 degrees N. latitude. One degree of latitude is about
69 miles. So the distance between the equator and KSC is almost
2000 miles, or twice what the shuttle can glide to.

The shuttle has orbital maneuvering engines, but I think Jorge Frank
said a while back that even if you filled the entire payload bay with
fuel for them, they could only change the orbit by about 5 degrees.
So even if you could do that, you'd still be 600 miles or so short of
KSC. Dryden is at 34 degrees N. latitude, so that isn't possible
either.

I hope that's close to a correct answer

Dale

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 23:22:30 -0700, Dale wrote:
I should have looked this up first- the shuttle's actual cross range
ability is apparently more like 1,265 miles. A bit closer, but still
not nearly enough...

Dale