Who can provide information about the space shuttle Discovery?

STS found that the space shuttle OV- 103 is the third space shuttle of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The first flight was on August 30th, 1984. He is still in service, responsible for various scientific research and supporting the International Space Station (ISS) program.

Discovery will retire on 20 10.

name

Like most other American space shuttles, Discovery was named after a British expedition ship in the18th century, accompanied by the famous Captain james cook's HMS Discovery in the South Pacific. In the course of Captain Cook's expedition, he accomplished achievements including discovering Hawaii, New Zealand and even confirming the existence of the Australian mainland, and HMBarque Endeavour, another expedition ship in the same trade, became the naming source of another NASA space shuttle Endeavour. In addition, Captain Cook took Discovery to explore the coastline between southern Alaska and northwest Canada. Although Britain and the United States were at war during the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin even issued a special order not to allow American troops to attack the ship because Discovery was engaged in a very important scientific mission.

Other famous ships using the name "Discovery" (henry hudson, the origin of the name of Hudson Bay) were looking for the "Northwest Passage" from 16 10 to 1665438. The Royal Geographical Society once owned a ship, also called Discovery, which was an exploration ship modified on the basis of the basic structure of a whaling ship and was used for the Arctic exploration in 1875. Later (190 1), the association made another discovery, 1904, to explore the Antarctic continent. In a word, the name "discovery" has a very important position in the history of human geographical exploration, which has continued to the activities of space exploration.

build

The construction of Discovery is different from MPTA-098, STA-099 (later challenger), OV-10/(later abandoned the modified Enterprise) and OV- 102 (Columbia), and it belongs to the second phase of the space shuttle built by NASA. Therefore, in the process of design and assembly, Discovery has obtained a lot of actual test and flight data of Enterprise, Columbia and Challenger, and its design is mature. It is 6,870 pounds lighter (about 3 120kg) and empty weight 15 1.4 19 pounds (68,744kg) than Colombia. After installing three main engines, its total weight is 17 1 0,000. Like Challenger, Discovery's payload module was partially modified to use cryogenic propellant to carry and launch centaur rockets, but this plan was suspended due to high risks. In fact, Discovery has never launched this type of rocket.

The following is a simple construction process of the space shuttle Discovery:

*1979 65438+129 October-sign the construction contract.

*1August 27th, 979-Construction of cabin module started.

*1June 20th, 980-Construction of the lower fuselage began.

*1980165438+10- Start the assembly of the rear fuselage structure.

*1980 65438+February 8-Initial system assembly of rear fuselage began.

*1981March 2-Start the manufacture and assembly of payload doors.

* 198 1 year1October 19- Start the detailed manufacture and assembly of the aileron.

*19811kloc-0/October 26th-the initial cabin system assembly began in Downey, California.

*1982 65438+1October 4th —— Start the preliminary system assembly of the front fuselage upper part.

*1982 March 16- The middle fuselage is in place in Palm Valley, California.

*1August 30, 982 -Elevons in position in Palm Valley.

*1April 30, 982-Wing delivered from Grumman to Palm Valley.

*1April 30, 982-The lower part of the front fuselage is in place in Palm Valley.

*1July, 982 16-The upper part of the front fuselage is located in Palm Valley.

*1August 5, 982-Vertical tail in position in Palm Valley.

*1September 3, 982-Start the final assembly.

*198210 June 15-Airplane aileron in position in Palm Valley

*198365438+1October 1 1- The rear fuselage is in position in Palm Valley.

*1February 25, 983-Final assembly completed

*1February 28, 983-Start the preliminary subsystem test and start the power supply.

*1983 May 13-Complete the preliminary subsystem test

*1July 26, 983-complete subsystem test.

*1983 August 2002 65438+ The final receipt has been completed.

*1983101October 16- completed and delivered from Palm Valley.

*1983165438+15th October-transported by land from Palm Valley, California to Edwards.

*1983165438+1October 9th-airlifted to Kennedy Space Center.

*1June 2, 984-Flight Preparation Ignition Test

*1August 30, 984-First flight (STS-4 1-D mission)

Previous tasks

Important tasks:

*1August 30, 984 Mission STS-4 1-D- maiden flight

*1September 29, 988 Mission STS-26-The first space shuttle mission resumed after the Challenger accident.

July 26th, 2005: Mission STS-114-The first space shuttle mission after the disintegration accident of Columbia.

Date task code comment

1984 On August 30th, STS-4 1-D launched two communication satellites.

1984165438+1October 8th STS-5 1-A launched two communication satellites with rescue.

1985 65438+1October 24th STS-5 1-C launched an ELINT satellite belonging to the US Department of Defense.

STS-5 1-D launched two communication satellites on1April, 985 12.

STS-5 1-G launched two communication satellites on1June, 1985 17.

1985 On August 27th, STS-5 1-I launched three communication satellites.

1September 29th, 988 The space shuttle mission resumed for the first time after the STS-26 Challenger accident, and a TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) was launched.

On March 1989, STS-29 launched a TDRS.

1989165438+1STS-33 launched an ELINT satellite on October 22nd.

1STS-3 1 launched the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) on April 24th, 990.

1990 65438+1October 6th STS-4 1 Launch Ulysses probe.

On April 28th, 199 1 STS-39 launched the US Air Force Plan -675 (AFP675) satellite.

12 September 12, STS-48 was loaded on the Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS).

1 99265438+1On October 22nd, STS-42 was equipped with the international microgravity laboratory1(IML- 1).

1992 65438+February 2, STS-53 paid for the facilities entrusted by the US Department of Defense.

65438+STS-56 was loaded in No.2 Atmospheric Laboratory (ATLAS-2) on April 8th, 0993.

1September 993 12 STS-5 1 launched the Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS).

1February 3, 994 STS-60 payload vacuum wake shielding facility (WSF).

65438+STS-64 carried out the LITE experiment on September 9th, 1994.

1995 STS-63 rendezvous with mir space station on February 3.

STS-70 launched the seventh TDRS satellite on1July 6, 1995.

Maintenance of Hubble Space Telescope

1On August 7th, 997, STS-85 carried and installed a low-temperature infrared spectrometer and telescope.

1STS-9 1 carried out the last docking mission between the space shuttle and the mir space station on June 2, 1998.

1October 29th STS-95 john glenn's second space flight made him the oldest astronaut in the world.

1may 27, 999 STS-96 international space station replenishment mission

199965438+February 19 STS- 103 Maintenance of Hubble Space Telescope.

STS-92 international space station assembly mission from June 5, 2000 to1October 6, 2000

March 8, 2006 STS- 102 International Space Station personnel rotation mission

2001August 10 STS- 105 International Space Station Personnel and Material Delivery Mission

July 26th, 2005, STS- 1 14, First Space Shuttle Return Mission after Columbia Disintegration Accident, International Space Station Personnel and Replenishment Transportation Mission, Test of New Safety Device.

STS- 1 14 task

Because the thermal insulation protection system was damaged by local collision during launch, Discovery made an unprecedented attempt to repair the fuselage appearance by spacewalking in STS- 1 14 mission. The picture shows the abdominal integrity of Discovery from the International Space Station.

strengthen

Because the thermal insulation protection system was damaged by local collision during launch, Discovery made an unprecedented attempt to repair the fuselage appearance by spacewalking in STS- 1 14 mission. The picture shows the abdominal integrity of Discovery from the International Space Station.

Discovery was scheduled to perform STS- 1 14 mission on July 3, 2005. This is the first time that NASA resumed the space shuttle mission after Columbia crashed in early 2003, but its launch was delayed due to mechanical failure. There are more than two hours before the scheduled launch time on July 13. When the engineer was conducting routine tests before the flight, he suddenly found that a liquid hydrogen engine cut-off sensor at the bottom of the liquid hydrogen fuel tank sent out an error signal. This sensor is one of four groups of sensors with the same function on Discovery's fuselage. When other sensors fail at the same time, it can be used as a backup. The main function of this sensor system is to cut off the engine power supply before the hydrogen in the liquid hydrogen fuel tank is found to be exhausted, so as to avoid explosion due to high heat. The NASA staff tried to clarify the reason why the sensor failed after the first launch, but failed to find the exact reason. Engineers clarified the problem mainly in the direction of grounding error or electromagnetic interference, but it is more difficult to find out the crux of the actual problem because the same background environment as before takeoff cannot be reproduced (for example, before the space shuttle takes off, the fuel tank will be at a lower temperature than usual because it is filled with ultra-low temperature liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, but unless the space shuttle is ready to take off.

On July 20, NASA officials announced that Discovery would be launched at 10: 39 am EST on July 26, although the cause of the false signal had not been determined. According to the calculation of this unit, July 3 1 is the lower limit of the appropriate launch time window for Discovery. After this date, the change of light and shadow around the space shuttle will not be conducive to the operation of a new set of surveillance cameras installed by scientists on Discovery. This monitoring network is mainly used to evaluate the effectiveness of the design modified by NASA for the safety of the space shuttle Columbia after its crash. If Discovery fails to take off before the end of July, it will have to be greatly postponed until September 9 before it can be launched again in a suitable lighting environment. However, some experts object to this. They believe that the sensitivity of the new generation of electronic photographic equipment to light is enough to make up for the lack of light, so NASA can make the space shuttle take off safely after fully confirming the cause of sensor failure.

The space shuttle Discovery reached the ground safely before dawn on August 9.

strengthen

The space shuttle Discovery reached the ground safely before dawn on August 9.

After installing new safety inspection equipment, Discovery was launched on July 26th, 2005, carrying out STS- 1 14 mission. This is the first time that the space shuttle has returned to space since the disintegration accident of Columbia. During the lift-off, a large piece of insulation foam on the external fuel tank of Discovery fell off due to contact with the fuselage of the space shuttle at the moment of launch. According to the image analysis taken by the high-resolution camera installed on Discovery, this thermal insulation foam is about 24 to 33 inches long, 65,438+00 to 65,438+03 inches wide and 2.5 to 8 inches thick. NASA judged that this insulating foam should not affect the safety of the space shuttle. According to NASA's plan, in addition to transporting Raphael's multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station, testing the newly developed thermal insulation foam and on-board photography monitoring system is also one of the main purposes of STS- 1 14.

After the first emergency repair of the damaged part by spacewalk in human history, Discovery landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 8: 1 1:22 am on August 9, US Eastern Time, ending its 14-day mission.

All the missions of the space shuttle are coming to an end, and the United States has announced that it will retire all the space shuttles before 20 10. The next generation space shuttle still under development will be the space shuttle. It will no longer use liquid oxygen or liquid hydrogen as fuel, no longer use rockets to take off vertically like the space shuttle, but take off horizontally from the runway like an ordinary plane. It will use liquid fluorine as fuel and can enter and leave the atmosphere freely.

Official website of NASA:

http://www . NASA . gov/mission _ pages/shuttle/multimedia/shuttle _ videos _ search _ agent _ archive _ 1 . html

Image information about the space shuttle.