18 February 1977: The prototype space shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101) made its first captive flight aboard NASA 905, the Boeing 747-123 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. On this flight, no one was aboard Enterprise. NASA 905 was flown by Aircraft Commander Fitzhugh L. Fulton, Jr., Pilot Thomas C. McMurty, and Flight Engineers Louis E. Guidry, Jr. and Victor W. Horton.
This photograph shows the crew of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905, in 1981: From left, they are, Tom McMurty, pilot; Vic Horton, flight engineer; Fitz Fulton, command pilot; and Ray Young, flight engineer (replacing Guidry). The Space Shuttle Columbia is attached to NASA 905. (NASA)
The duration of the first captive flight was 2 hours, 5 minutes. The Enterprise/SCA combination reached a maximum speed of 287 miles per hour (462 kilometers per hour) and altitude of 16,000 feet (4,877 meters).
NASA describes the photograph above:
The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise rides smoothly atop NASA’s first Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), NASA 905, during the first of the shuttle program’s Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in 1977. During the nearly one year-long series of tests, Enterprise was taken aloft on the SCA to study the aerodynamics of the mated vehicles and, in a series of five free flights, tested the glide and landing characteristics of the orbiter prototype.
In this photo, the main engine area on the aft end of Enterprise is covered with a tail cone to reduce aerodynamic drag that affects the horizontal tail of the SCA, on which tip fins have been installed to increase stability when the aircraft carries an orbiter.
Boeing 747-123, N905NA, during wake vortex studies, 20 September 1974. The other aircraft in the photograph are a Cessna T-37B, N807NA, and a Learjet 24, N701NA. (NASA)
NASA 905 (the airplane’s call sign is based on its FAA registration, N905NA) was originally built by Boeing for American Airlines as a 747-123 airliner, serial number 20107. It was delivered to American 29 October 1970 with the registration N9668. NASA acquired the airliner 18 July 1974 for use in wake vortex studies.
Modification to the SCA configuration began in 1976. Most of the interior was stripped and the fuselage was strengthened. Mounting struts for the space shuttle were added and end plates for additional stability were attached to the horizontal tail plane. The 747 retained the red, white and blue horizontal stripes of American Airlines’ livery until the early 1980s.
The standard Pratt & Whitney JT95-3A high bypass ratio turbofan engines were upgraded to JT9D-7J turbofans. This increased thrust from 46,950 pounds to 50,000 pounds (222.41 kilonewtons) each. The JT9D-7J is a two-spool, axial-flow turbofan engine with a single stage fan section, 14-stage compressor section and 4-stage turbine. This engine has a maximum diameter of 7 feet, 11.6 inches (2.428 meters), is 12 feet, 10.2 inches (3.917 meters) long and weighs 8,850 pounds (4,014 kilograms).
This image shows NASA 905 as configured for wake vortex studies and as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Artwork courtesy of Tim Bradley Imaging.
NASA 905 is 231 feet, 10.2 inches (70.668 meters) long with a wingspan of 195 feet, 8 inches (59.639 meters) and overall height of 63 feet, 5 inches (19.329 meters). Its empty weight is 318,053 pounds (144,266 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight is 710,000 pounds (322,050 kilograms).
While carrying a space shuttle, the SCA maximum speed is 0.6 Mach (443 miles per hour, or 695 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and its range is 1,150 miles (1,850.75 kilometers).
NASA 905 is displayed at Independence Park at Space Center Houston, a science and space learning center in Houston, Texas.
35 years, 2 months, 10 days after their first combination flight, the prototype Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise (OV-101) and Shuttle Carrier Aircraft NASA 905, touch down together for the last time, at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 11:23 a.m., EST, 27 April 2012. (AP)
NEAR/Delta II D232 lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17 at 3:43 a.m., EST, 17 February 1996. (NASA)
17 February 1996, 20:43:27 UTC: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory space probe NEAR—Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous—was launched aboard a three-stage McDonnell Douglas Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The purpose of the 5-year-long mission was to study several near-Earth asteroids, including 253 Mathilde and 433 Eros.
The space probe was renamed NEAR Shoemaker in honor of Eugene Merle (“Gene”) Shoemaker, Ph.D., a well-known planetary scientist who dies in a vehicle collision in Australia, 18 July 1997.
Near-Earth Asteroid 253 Mathilde photographed from a distance of 1,200 kilometers, 27 June 1997. (NASA)
NEAR Shoemaker made its closest approach to 253 Mathilde on 27 June 1997, passing the asteroid at a distance of approximately 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) at 35,748 kilometers per hour (22,213 miles per hour). More than 500 photographic images, along with sensor data, were transmitted to Earth. The space probe’s main engine was then ignited to send it on a new trajectory to 433 Eros.
NEAR Shoemaker was placed into an orbit around 433 Eros on 14 February 2000. NEAR Shoemaker photographed and studied the asteroid for nearly a year, and then on 12 February 2001, after completing 230 orbits, made a soft landing on its surface.
Near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros photographed by the NEAR-Shoemaker space probe. (NASA)
The McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-8 Orbital Launch Vehicle is a three-stage, liquid-fueled rocket. It is 125 feet, 4 inches (38.201 meters) long, 8 feet, 0 inches (2.438 meters) in diameter, and weighs approximately 480,000 pounds (217,724 kilograms). At the time, the Delta II was the smallest rocket used to launch a planetary mission.
The first stage is a Thor/Delta XLT-C (“long-tank Thor”), which is 85 feet, 5½ inches (26.048 meters) long, 8 feet, 0 inches (2.438 meters) in diameter, and weighs 224,600 pounds (101,877 kilograms) when fully fueled. The stage is powered by one liquid-fueled Rocketdyne RS-27A rocket engine, rated at 236,992 pounds of thrust (1,054.193 kilonewtons). Fueled with 10,000 gallons (37,854 liters) of RP-1/LOX propellant and oxidizer, the engine has 4 minutes, 25 second burn time.
Surrounding the Thor are nine Alliant Techsytems (ATK) GEM-40 (Graphite-Epoxy Motor) solid fuel boosters. They are 42 feet, 6 inches (12.957 meters) long, and 3 feet, 4 inches (1.018 meters) in diameter, and weigh 28,671 pounds ( kilograms). Each booster produces 110,800 pounds of thrust (492.863 kilonewtons), and have 1 minute, 4 second burn time. Six of the nine GEM-40s are ignited at launch, and the remaining three ignite after the first six burn out.
The second stage is a McDonnell Douglas Delta K, which is 19 feet, 3 inches (5.867 meters) long, 8 feet, 0 inches (2.438 meters) in diameter, and weighs 15,331 pounds ( kilograms). The Delta K is powered by one Aerojet AJ10-118K liquid-fueled rocket engine which produces 9,800 pounds of thrust (43.593 kilonewtons). It has a 7 minute, 11 second burn time.
The third stage is a McDonnell Douglas PAM-D (Payload Assist Module), powered by a Thiokol Propulsion Star 48B solid rocket motor, which produces 15,000 pounds of thrust (66.723 kilonewtons), and has a burn time of 1 minute, 27 second burn time.
NEAR space probe inside a protective payload fairing. A man at the lower left of the image provides scale. (NASA)
The NEAR space probe was designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The probe was equipped with an X-ray/gamma ray spectrometer, near-infrared imaging spectrometer and a multi-spectral CCD imaging camera, laser rangefinder and magnetometer. NEAR was 9 feet, ¼-inch (2.749 meters) long and weighed 1,803 pounds (817.8 kilograms). Power was supplied by four solar panels, capable of generating 400 watts.The main engine produced 450 Newtons (101 pounds) of thrust using hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. A system of 11 hydrazine thrusters and 4 reaction wheels were used attitude control.
Pegasus A/SA-9 (AS-103) liftoff, 16 February 1965, 14:37:03 UTC (NASA KSC 65-19630)
16 February 1965: At 9:37:03 a.m., Eastern Standard Time (14:37:03 UTC), Pegasus A (later redesignated Pegasus I), a satellite designed to detect meteoroid impacts in Earth orbit, is launched from Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Cape Kennedy, Florida, aboard a Saturn I Block II launch vehicle. The satellite is enclosed in a boiler plate Apollo Command and Service Module.
The all-up vehicle is designated AS-103. The combined first and second stage launch vehicle is designated SA-9. It consisted of an S-I first stage (S-I-9) and S-IV second stage (S-IV-9). The boilerplate Apollo CSM is identified as BP-16.
The three Pegasus satellites were the only ones to use a Saturn launch vehicle. Pegasus A was the largest satellite launched up to that date, with a mass of 1,451.5 kilograms (3,200 pounds).
This was the eighth flight of a Saturn I rocket, and the fourth for a Saturn IV second stage.
AS-103 lifted off from a 47 foot × 47 foot (14.33 × 14.33 meters) square metal pedestal. At the center of the pedestal was a 32-foot diameter dodecagon-shaped opening for the rocket engines’ exhaust. A twin-sloped flame deflector under the pedestal was coated with a concrete-like heat-resistant material to minimize damage to the deflector.
The trajectory of AS-103. (NASA Press Kit 65-38)
At T+8 seconds, AS-103 began a roll and pitch maneuver, taking it to a flight azimuth of 105°. The roll maneuver ended 15 seconds later. The Saturn I reached Mach 1 at T+54 seconds, and the maximum dynamic pressure (max Q) at T+66. The pitch program was completed at T+138. At T+140.22, the four inboard H-1 engines were cut off (IECO), and the outer engines, 5.34 seconds later (OECO). At this time, AS-103 had reached an altitude of 55 miles (89 kilometers), and was 44 miles (77 kilometers) downrange. It was traveling at 6,000 miles per hour (9,656 kilometers per hour).
The Saturn I first stage was jettisoned. Four solid fuel retro rockets were to slow the first stage, but one malfunctioned shortly after ignition. The first stage impacted the ocean surface at T+718.95, 961.29 kilometers (597.32 miles) down range. (N. 25.8155, W. 71.3491)
At T+148.12, the command to start the six RL10 engines of the second stage was sent. The two stages had separated by 10.95 meters (35.93 feet) at engine ignition. (the minimum requirement was 3 meters/9.8 feet.) Ten seconds later, the Launch Escape System was jettisoned.
After about 8 minutes, at T+631.659, the S-IV-9 engines were cut off and the vehicle was inserted into orbit 1,200 miles, (1,931 kilometers) downrange, with a velocity of 8,091.1 meters per second (29,128 kilometers per hour/18,099 miles per hour).
At T+813, the Command and Service Module was separated, and at T+863.4, the Pegasus wings began to deploy. This took 39.6 seconds. These panels had an overall span of 96 feet (29.261 meters) and width of 14 feet (4.267 meters). They carried 208 detector panels. Each panel was 3 feet, 4 inches × 1 foot, 8 inches × 1 inch (1.016 x 0.508 x 0.0254 meters).
A 50-second video of this evolution can be seen on YouTube at:
Pegasus I stabilized in a 430.00 × 523.00 kilometer (267.19 × 329.33 miles) elliptical orbit with a period of 94.10 minutes. As residual fuel (approximately 700 pounds) from the S-IV second stage, which remained attached to the satellite, vented, Pegasus began to tumble.
Pegasus I had about eighty times the detecting area than the Explorer I satellite, which had been launched 31 January 1958. By late May 1965, more than 70 meteoroid hits had been detected.
NASA issued a contract to build three Pegasus satellites, two for flight and third as a backup, to the Fairchild Stratos Corporation in February 1963. (Fairchild Hiller Corporation after 1964.) Final assembly took place at the Aircraft-Missiles Division, Hagerstown, Maryland. (In fact, all three were launched.) Pegasus A was transported by aircraft and arrived at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station on 20 December 1964.
“In this photograph, the Pegasus, meteoroid detection satellite is installed in its specially modified Apollo service module atop the S-IV stage (second stage) of a Saturn I vehicle for the SA-9 mission at Cape Kennedy. Personnel in the service structure moved the boilerplate Apollo command module into place to cap the vehicle. The command and service modules, visible here, were jettisoned into orbit to free the Pegasus for wing deployment. The SA-9 was launched on February 16, 1965.” (NASA)
When stored inside the boiler plate command and service module, the satellite was 17 feet, 4 inches (5.283 meters) long, 7 feet, 0 inches (2.134 meters) wide, and 9.5 inches (24.13 centimeters) deep.
Pegasus I was deactivated 29 August 1968. Its orbit decayed and it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere 17 September 1978. BP-16, the boilerplate Apollo CSM, remained in orbit until 10 July 1985.
Diagram from “RESULTS OF THE EIGHTH SATURN I LAUNCH VEHICLE TEST FLIGHT SA-9” MPR-SAT-FE-66-4, at Page 97)
AS-103 consisted of a Saturn I Block II first stage, S-I-9; a S-IV second stage, S-IV-9; a boilerplate Apollo Command and Service Module, BP-16; with a Launch Escape System tower. It had a height of approximately 57.3 meters (187.99 feet). It weighed 1,110,941 pounds (503,914 kilograms) at First Motion, including 878,179 pounds (398,335 kilograms) of propellant.
S-I-9 was the last Saturn S-I first stage to be built at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (SA-8, SA-10, and the following Saturn first stage boosters were produced by the Chrysler Corporation Space Division at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.) The Block II variant was modified for use by the United States Air Force to launch it’s proposed X-20 Dyna-Soar manned orbital vehicle. The most visible modification are the very large fins for enhanced stability, along with four smaller stub fins. These fins extended radially 9 feet (2.7 meters) from the thrust structure, and each had a surface area of 121 square feet (11.24 square meters). S-I-9 was barged to the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, arriving there 30 October 1964.
Saturn I Block II first stage. 1. TV Camera, 2. Movie Camera, 3. Hydrogen Chill-Down Duct, 4. Cable Tunnel, 5. Four Turbine Exhaust Ducts, 6. Four Stub Fins, 7. Eight H-1 Engines, 8. Four Fins, 9. Heat Shield, 10. Firewall, 11. Anti-Slosh Baffles, 12. One 105-inch (2.667 meters) Diameter LOX Tank, 12. Anti-Slosh Baffles Eight 70-inch (1.778 meters) diameter Tanks, 13. Instrument Compartment (typical F-1 & F-2), 14. Four Retro-Rockets. (NASA MSFC-9801761)
S-I-9 was 80.3 feet (20.275 meters) long and 21.4 feet (6.523 meters) in diameter. Eight Redstone 5 feet, 10 inch (1.778 meters) diameter rocket fuel tanks, with four containing the RP-1 fuel, and four filled with liquid oxygen, surrounded a 8 feet, 9 inch (2.667 meter) diameter Jupiter rocket fuel tank containing liquid oxygen. The stage was powered by eight uprated Rocketdyne H-1 engines. The eight engines produced 1,500,000 pounds of thrust (6,672 kilonewtons) at Sea Level.
The Saturn S-IV-9 second stage was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company’s Missile & Space Division, Huntington, Beach, California. It was 41.5 feet (12.65 meters) long and 18.5 feet (5.64 meters) in diameter and had an empty weight of about 14,000 pounds (6,350 kilograms). It carried 100,386 pounds (45,534 kilograms) of propellant. The stage was powered by six Pratt & Whitney RL10A-3 rocket engines. The six engines produced 88,976 pounds of thrust (395.785 kilonewtons). The stage was coated with a special heat resistant paint developed by the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. The S-IV stage was transported by aircraft and arrived at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station 23 October 1964.
Pegasus Deployment Sequence (NASA) “Fairchild technicians check out the extended Pegasus meteoroid detection surface. The Pegasus was developed by Fairchild Stratos Corporation, Hagerstown, Maryland, for NASA through the Marshall Space Flight Center. After being placed into orbit around the Earth, the satellite unfolded a series of giant panels to form a pair of wings measuring 96 feet across.” (NASA)
NASA considered the Saturn S-I series to be remarkably successful. Up to this time, new rockets failed at a rate of 50% during two to three dozen tests.
2009 Satellite Collision. Cosmos 2251, represented by the orange line, is orbiting from the upper left to lower right. Iridium 33, the blue line, is moving from the lower left to upper right. (Thomas S. Kelso, Ph.D., Analytical Graphics, Inc.)
10 February 2009, 16:55:59.806 UTC: Two artificial satellites orbiting Earth, Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33, collided with each other at a closing speed of 26,170 miles per hour (42,117 kilometers per hour, 490 miles (789 kilometers) above Siberia. Because of the relative speeds of the satellites, this was termed a “hypervelocity collision.”
These satellites had been routinely tracked and estimates were that they would pass at a distance of 584 meters (1,916 feet).
Cosmos 2251 (Космос-2251) was a Strela 2M military communications satellite. It had been launched from Plesetsk, Russia, at 04:20:00 UTC, 16 July 1993, but was no longer active and was not controlled. The satellite weighed approximately 900 kilograms (1,984 pounds). It was in a 783 × 821 kilometers (486.5 × 510.1 miles) orbit, with an inclination, relative to Earth’s axis, of 74.0°. It completed one orbit every 1 hour, 41 minutes.
Iridium 33 was commercial communications satellite which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 01:36:54 UTC, 14 September 1997. It was built by Lockheed Martin for Iridium Satellites LLC. weighed 1,234 pounds (560 kilograms). Iridium 33’s orbit was 522 × 541 kilometers (324.4 × 336.2 miles). It had an orbital inclination of 86.6° and orbited the Earth in 1 hour, 34.9 minutes.
According to a report by Thoman S. Kelso, Ph.D., of the Center for Space Standards & Innovation, light flashes captured on video “suggest that at least two MMAs (Main Mission Antennas. . . at the bottom of the satellite) on that object survived the collision relatively intact.”
Subsequently 406 pieces of Iridium 33 and 960 pieces of Cosmos 2251 were tracked as they spread in orbit. While some of the debris has re-entered the atmosphere, perhaps 50% of the total remains in Earth orbit.
NASA 911, a modified Boeing 747-146 transport, FAA registration N911NA, one of two NASA Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, makes its final landing at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, 8 February 2012. (NASA)
8 February 2012: End of an era. NASA 911, the Boeing 747-146 that has been used as a space shuttle carrier, made its last flight on Wednesday, 8 February 2012, a 20-minute hop from Edwards Air Force Base to Palmdale Plant 42. In 38 years, this airplane accumulated 33,004.1 flight hours, which is relatively low time for an airliner. It will be cannibalized for parts to keep another NASA 747 flying.
NASA 911 (Boeing serial number 20781) made its first flight 31 August 1973, registered as JA8817, and flew in commercial service with Japan Air Lines for fifteen years. It was obtained by NASA in 1989 and turned over to Boeing for modification as the second Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
Japan Air Lines’ Boeing 747-146 JA8112, sister ship of NASA 911. (Michael Gilliland/Wikimedia)
The 747-146 SR is a short-range, high-capacity airliner variant produced by Boeing for Japan Air Lines. It was strengthened to handle the additional takeoffs and landings of short-duration flights. Additional structural support was built into the fuselage, wings and landing gear, while the fuel capacity was reduced 20% from that of the standard 747-100. Seven were built between 1973 and 1975.
It is 231 feet, 10.2 inches (70.668 meters) long with a wingspan of 195 feet, 8 inches (59.639 meters) and overall height of 63 feet, 5 inches (19.329 meters). Its empty weight is 323,034 pounds (146,526 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight 710,000 pounds (322,050 kilograms).
NASA’s fleet of Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905 (foreground) and NASA 911. (NASA)
NASA 911 was equipped with more powerful JT9D-7J engines in place of the standard airplane’s JT9D-7A engines. This increased thrust from 46,950 pounds to 50,000 pounds (222.41 kilonewtons) each. The JT9D-7J is a two-spool, axial-flow turbofan engine with a single stage fan section, 14-stage compressor section and 4-stage turbine. This engine has a maximum diameter of 7 feet, 11.6 inches (2.428 meters), is 12 feet, 10.2 inches (3.917 meters) long and weighs 8,850 pounds (4,014 kilograms).
While carrying a space shuttle, the SCA maximum speed is 0.6 Mach (432 miles per hour, or 695 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and its range is 1,150 miles (1,850.75 kilometers).
A NASA Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, California with the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour. (NASA)
NASA 911 is on display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark, Palmdale, California.
