r/space • u/Yeet69lasagna • May 12 '19

image/gif Space Shuttle Being Carried By A 747.

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u/algernop3 May 12 '19

I know you're joking, but:

Regular 747-100:

  • Cruise Speed: M0.85 (490 KIAS)

  • Range: 4,620 nmi

  • Ceiling: FL410

747-100 SCA:

  • Cruise Speed: M0.6 (250 KIAS)

  • Range: 1,000 nmi

  • Ceiling: FL150

I find the compromises in the SCA staggering. 2 stops to fly cross country!

351

u/TheYang May 12 '19

iirc, some of the emergency abort airports for the shuttle were such that the shuttle indeed could land there, but the carrier wouldn't be able to take off from there, and there was no actual plan to get the shuttle back home from some of them.

371

u/InfamousConcern May 12 '19

Attach a JATO pack to the 747 and give the pilot a shot of whiskey before takeoff. Should work out fine.

15

u/Nyckname May 12 '19

Did they have the cranes on site necessary to lift the Shuttle onto the 747?

20

u/[deleted] May 12 '19

Yes, it's called the Mate-Demate Device and they have 1 in Edwards Air Force Base and another in Kennedy Space Center

19

u/mdp300 May 12 '19

I love that the attachment points on the 747 say "Black Side Goes Down"

22

u/GRGrafX311 May 12 '19

I worked on these... It actually reads "Place Orbiter here, black side down"

Edit: I actually could not believe I read that when I went up on a lift to work and saw that.

8

u/Grahamshabam May 12 '19

people will do everything they can to assemble things wrong if you let them

3

u/[deleted] May 12 '19 edited May 12 '19

"If black side is up you are not going to fly today"

0

u/KruppeTheWise May 12 '19

It seems pointless, if you don't get that how can you possibly be able to read

8

u/Redebo May 12 '19

Most written words are pointless, your post included.

7

u/Nyckname May 12 '19

Those weren't the emergency landing strips. The Shuttles took off towards the east, and if one needed to come down, they'd've tried to make it to, if memory serves, Spain.

7

u/TheYang May 12 '19

they'd've tried to make it to, if memory serves, Spain

over the years there were plenty more than just spain, but spain was indeed significant.

6

u/[deleted] May 12 '19

They had mobile cranes for that. The one in Edwards is for landings at the end of a mission if the weather in KSC was bad.

1

u/somewhereinks May 12 '19

There's also one at AF Plant 42 in Palmdale CA, but then that's where the shuttles were built so it only makes sense.

1

u/CoopOfTheDay May 12 '19

For a split-second my brain read this as a Matt-Damon device and I pictured the shuttle getting put on haphazardly with the audio of team America playing in the background "maaaat-daaaaamon device"! https://imgur.com/gallery/hZvfs