January 31st 1977 the Mojave Desert Space Shuttle Orbiter 101 is being transported from its assembly facility in Palmdale California 35 miles Overland to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base this orbiter named Enterprise is the first of a fleet of reusable space transports like nothing ever before built the Shuttle Orbiter is a hybrid art spacecraft part airplane upon returning from space the orbiter with no air breathing engines would be flown to a powerless landing like a glider now performance and reliability must be proven the approach and landing tests of the orbiter enterprise for testing the 75-ton spacecraft will be carried atop a 747 jumbo jet to an altitude of about five miles then released by firing a set of explosive bolts the test will be carried out in three stages the captive inert phase with no orbiter crew aboard then the captive active and the free flight stages both with astronaut crews at the orbiter controls taxi runs begin the captive inert testing in which the orbiter stays atop the carrier aircraft and none of the orbiters systems are turned on the big 747 is maneuvered along the runway at speeds up to 157 miles an hour to determine steering braking and ground handling characteristics while carrying the orbiter next a series of six captive inert flights is scheduled still with the orbiter unmanned and it's systems inactive 747 captain Fitz Fulton and co-pilot Tom McMurtry will fly the carrier aircraft as chase planes help monitor the operation their mission tane information on performance of the maiden vehicles the crew is pleased handling is much closer to that of a standard 747 than expected subsequent captive inert flights check for stability and control problems and accomplish fluttered tests flutter is a term for high frequency oscillation which can build up in aircraft parts causing structural failure the orbiters position atop the carrier aircraft changes the normal air flow around the 747 tail reducing stability and causing tail buffett for this reason special fins resembling outriggers have been added to the horizontal stabilizer to restore directional stability a tail cone fitted to the orbiter and covering its three main engines allows it to be carried higher while reducing 747 tail buffeting after separation since the tail cone also reduces air drag on the orbiter it will be able to descend more slowly allowing more time for testing in flight a tail cone will also be used to reduce tail buffett on ferry flights when the 747 transports orbiters from California to the launch facility in Florida but for space missions the orbiters engines will be left exposed and the vehicle will re-enter the atmosphere and land without a tail cone the captive inert flights continue with technical evaluations emergency descent is simulated finally all procedures up to the point of actual release of the orbiter are carried out the testing goes so well that flight number six is not required the captive active phase can begin with the orbiter crew aboard and the orbiter systems active astronaut crews have been training for the approach and landing tests a shuttle training aircraft or sta is constructed by modifying a Gulfstream to airplane to handle like an orbiter inside the left seat and controls exchanged computer equipment is added in the STA a crew practices landings spacecraft commander Fred Hayes and spacecraft pilot Gordon Fullerton briefings are held on orbiter systems with another crew spacecraft commander Joel Engel then a whole spacecraft pilot dick truly at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas a computer-controlled trainer the orbiter aero flight simulator or OAS is used to practice landings orbiter crews operate the controls causing a special television camera to scan a scale model of the dry lake bed on which the orbiter will land at Edwards Air Force Base the result a realistic orbiter landing is seen through the simulator windows air coming the crews are well prepared astronauts Hayes and Fullerton will fly the first captive active test alternating the missions mid end goal including the control room at Dryden Flight Research Center manages operations before the flight and maintains contact with the Carrier aircraft it will also serve as a contingency control room in case communication should be lost with the control center in houston the control center is the recovery operations control room at Johnson Space Center the same control room used for recovery operations during the Apollo program the orbiters fuel cells are active now furnishing 15,000 watts of electricity for coolant systems communication equipment and flight control systems including the five onboard computers four of these computers are redundant working together as a set comparing information when asked to make a decision if failures occur normal operation can still continue with as few as two of them functioning finally the crew can fly the orbiter using the fifth computer only if the redundant set failed and I think okay I didn't really hear the other power is furnished by special hydraulic turbines called auxiliary power units or APU they supply energy for mechanical functions such as moving the flight control services it is during these captive active flights that problems occurred with the power utilization coming here a sensor shows excessive temperature in the APU system but a later check reveals that it was accidentally triggered by a loose wire no wires replaced another power unit problem servicing a seal in a bellows unit is leaking allowing APU fuel to drain overboard whatever bellows already being redesigned is replaced by a modified unit and the system is safe three captive active flights are made so that problems like these can be discovered and corrected the last captive active flight includes a full rehearsal for the separation maneuver the 747 crew pushes over and accelerates the mated pair to 310 miles an hour they are descending at 3,000 feet per minute the orbiters Ella Vons and ailerons are positioned to provide the correct angle and lift for the actual release the next phase of the approach and landing tests astronauts Fred Hayes and Gordon Fullerton will man the enterprise for its first free flight of the scheduled series of free flights to are considered the most critical this flight and a later one for which the turbulence reducing tailcone will be removed free flight one will test the separation the handling qualities of the orbiter and certain systems will be evaluated including braking and steering during rollout now the 747 is near the altitude required for the pushover maneuver the crew of the orbiter enterprise is completing its pre-flight checklist due to buffeting the ship fly brace causing the astronauts voices to shake we're at your to see us at CSS there steady surface aesthetic yeah I'm all set to push the cameras at the white bath and then the arm at 2:40 okay in the prizes set thanks to the left at 9:05 and Enterprise Euston is go for pushover nine German launched inning Houston copies one push over Houston copies push over the Carrier aircraft has pushed over and acceleration begins the orbiter pilot will arm a series of explosive bolts and when separation speed has reached and the commander will fire the bolts releasing the orbiter an orbiter pitch up maneuver will provide vertical separation and the 747 will turn left while the orbiter turns right for horizontal separation then the crew of the enterprise will be on their own flying to an unpowered landing on the dry lake bed good 20 to 35 to 40 mark I'm no light your lights okay we are I'm two lights no our British go infinity Houston his go for seven have a great flight and what standby for the bank guard up are vampire on command now at separation computer number two stops processing data the other general processing computers or G pcs in the redundant system voted off the line the crew informs a control center execute the plan computer malfunction procedures and free flight one continues okay pick up up an American computer light it's number two okay we've got a GPC light lots of sync on - pushing over and a big X on computer number two Roger we understand she's flying good 350 starting flare okay you're a a breakers are coming out we're gonna get a message yeah that's a definite lurking sideways let's just like I said okay okay 11 alpha pushing over okay I got your 195 and 20,000 you got it going on I got your black okay straight and if rise you're cleared to start to turn ok Garneau then the turn it is really tight Oh in fact I think it's a little better than the OS da feels yeah the merchants they're just like everybody said ok altitudes on and I'm about fourteen lower than you are in speed and right on Elgin the orbiter is not controlled like a standard airplane the onboard computer system using information provided by flight sensing devices makes constant adjustments to the control surfaces so that a stable attitude is maintained and the pilot moves the control stick the signal goes first to the computer system the computers instantly adjust the control surfaces so that while the pilots command is obeyed stable flight is maintained weather is bad and visibility for the orbiter can be flown in an auto land mode in Auto land bar the orbiter is brought to a landing by the computer which determines its location direction and speed through its inertial guidance system its microwave landing system and other data sources got a steady out of land sign out here two armed gateway armed and blaring Danny by the gear 200 feet 290 we the gear is coming down at 270 coming down mark here coming down coming down what's down here okay three down gears down to forty thirty to twenty lots of speech tab beautiful - Jen 20 about 5 to 10 give us about 200 creepy 195 185 okay speed brakes are not peppy it breaks our halfway up okay I got 130 knots yeah it's great - full rudder 115 okay 80 okay 60 knots trying to know as well okay that was too good a glider free flight time 5 minutes and 22 seconds roll out with moderate braking a little over two miles three flights two and three have furnished additional engineering data required adjustments have been made to orbiter 101 systems now astronauts Joe angle and dick truly will make free flight number for the first flight there's a tail cone off when an orbiter returns from space it will not carry a tail tone this will cause increased turbulence behind the crab and will create more air drag during this critical flight with the tail cone off the tail section of a 747 received even greater punishment from the turbulence but if all goes well a 150 thousand pound enterprise will be released and will descend 20,000 feet in two and a half minutes first the mated vehicles are checked in flight with the orbiters tail cone off a data run is made to monitor performance at separation speed then the 747 begins its climb push over an actual separation it applies those two lights we're go for SEP ride your enterprise using this go for SEP go for 7 ok Dave let's do it pretty to 10 knots to 20 knots to 30 knots stand by for launch ready chocolate set ok buddy prep set yeah okay pushing over okay okay Jared configured beautiful 119 us freeze life for is going well that instrumentation and power systems are performing normally carrier aircraft buffeting was within the established limits before separation and during free flight the orbiters handling qualities are not noticeably different than they were with the tail cone on 285 not sure looking good dude 90 knots 4000 feet 3000 feet - now your little face I thought we leave them out free Blair you're on the glide slope we see you on the glide slope want to speak brings company a negative leading okay now start a min okay they're coming in big base closing orbiter gear okay get the gear gear is coming ok Turner feature hundred sixty knots down at 250 knots to 40 knots to 30 19 to 29 40 knots 205 190 knots around the speed brakes and trekking coming down that's real steering on differential braking your brake stick okay I've got the brakes where's Martin okay okay okay let me get a little slower here Joe okay I'm coming off the brakes still on the right brake going slow come on I'm holding what I got okay okay Houston where stop mark bad you got it good writer thank you Richard ed worker super one pre-flight time two minutes and 35 seconds roll out with hard braking 5000 275 feet the orbiter flies well with the tail cone all your airplane on this flight free flight five the orbiter will land on a paved runway the performance of the landing gear and it's connected airframe systems must be verified on this type of surface also the orbiters approach landing in rollout will be tested on the pave strip with a simulated 10,000 foot length the Kennedy Space Center runway where the orbiter will normally land as it returns from space is 15,000 feet and the additional 5,000 feet will mean a greater margin of safety free flight five goes well until just before touchdown then a pilot induced movement takes the vehicle close to the ground it rises at 187 knots it touches down but skips off the ground and settles 1,900 feet later to a second touchdown a total runway roll out distance from the first touchdown point is seven thousand nine hundred thirty feet well under the ten thousand foot mark we with free flight 5 the approach and landing tests are concluded all of the assigned program requirements have been satisfactorily completed now orbiter 101 will go to Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama for a series of ground vibration tests in 1979 the 747 will carry orbiter 102 sistership of the enterprise to Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be the first vehicle to be used in the orbital flight tests each shuttle orbiter is designed to be used at least 100 times the space shuttle fleet will handle a variety of missions placing servicing or recovering satellites in orbit delivering deep-space probes for on-orbit launch carrying space laboratories NASA's space transportation system will replace nearly all expendable launch vehicles for both civilian and military space missions with the shuttle orbiters we're entering a new era in space you
