NASA Shuttle Training Aircraft
The Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) is a NASA training vehicle that duplicated the Space Shuttle's approach profile and handling qualities allowing Space Shuttle pilots to simulate Shuttle landings under controlled conditions before attempting the task on board the orbiter. This particular aircraft was flown by many NASA pilots including Amarillo's own and shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband.
|
During the shuttle program, four STAs were normally located at the NASA Forward Operating Location in El Paso, Texas and rotated through Ellington Field (Houston, Texas) for maintenance. The STA was also used at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STA was primarily flown by astronauts practicing landings at the Shuttle Landing Facility and White Sands Space Harbor as well as to assess weather conditions prior to Space Shuttle launches and landings. |
The STA was particularly critical for Shuttle pilots in training because the Orbiter lacks the atmospheric engines that would allow the craft to "go around" after a poor approach. After re-entry, the Shuttle was a very heavy glider (it is sometimes referred to as a 'flying brick') and, as such, had only one chance to land. Click the play button below to see a YouTube video of the STA making a simulated Shuttle approach. (The pilot in the video is Shuttle Commander Rick Hauck.)
Flight Training Profile
In order to match the descent rate and drag profile of the real Shuttle, at 37,000 feet (11,300 m), the main landing gear was lowered (the nose gear stayed retracted due to wind load constraints) and engine thrust was reversed. Flaps could be deflected upwards to decrease lift as well as downwards to increase lift.
Covers were placed on the left hand cockpit windows to provide the same view as from a Shuttle cockpit, and the left-hand pilot's seat is fitted with the same controls as a Shuttle. The STA's normal flight controls exist at the right-hand instructor's seat. Both seat positions have a Head Up Display (HUD).
In a normal exercise, the pilot descends from 37,000 feet (11,300 m) to 20,000 feet (6,000 m) at an airspeed of 280 knots (519 km/h), 15 miles (24 km) from the landing target. The pilot then rolls the STA at 12,000 feet (3,700 m), 7 miles (11 km) from landing. The nose of the aircraft is then dropped to increase speed to 300 knots (560 km/h), descending at a 20-degree angle on the Outer Glide Slope (OGS). The Outer Glide Slope aiming point is 7,500 feet short of the runway threshold, and uses PAPI's for visual guidance in addition to the MLS system. At 2,000 feet AGL the guidance system changes to pre-flare and shortly after, at 1,700 feet (518 m), the pilot starts the flare maneuver to gradually reduce the descent angle and transition to the Inner Glide Slope (IGS) which is 1.5 degrees from 300 feet onwards, using a "Ball-bar" system for visual guidance. The shuttle landing gear release is simulated at 300 feet (90 m) above the ground surface, since the STA main gear has been down for the entire simulation. The nose gear of the STA is lowered at 150 feet (46 m) AGL in case of an inadvertent contact with the runway surface.
If the speed is correct, a green light on the instrument panel simulates shuttle landing when the pilot's eyes are 32 feet (10 m) above the runway. This is the exact position that the pilot's head would be during actual landing. In the exercise, the STA is still flying 20 feet (6 m) above the ground. The instructor pilot deselects the simulation mode, stows the thrust reversers, and executes a go-around, never--during practice approaches--actually landing the aircraft.
above from Wikipedia
See more information here from the AOPA.
In order to match the descent rate and drag profile of the real Shuttle, at 37,000 feet (11,300 m), the main landing gear was lowered (the nose gear stayed retracted due to wind load constraints) and engine thrust was reversed. Flaps could be deflected upwards to decrease lift as well as downwards to increase lift.
Covers were placed on the left hand cockpit windows to provide the same view as from a Shuttle cockpit, and the left-hand pilot's seat is fitted with the same controls as a Shuttle. The STA's normal flight controls exist at the right-hand instructor's seat. Both seat positions have a Head Up Display (HUD).
In a normal exercise, the pilot descends from 37,000 feet (11,300 m) to 20,000 feet (6,000 m) at an airspeed of 280 knots (519 km/h), 15 miles (24 km) from the landing target. The pilot then rolls the STA at 12,000 feet (3,700 m), 7 miles (11 km) from landing. The nose of the aircraft is then dropped to increase speed to 300 knots (560 km/h), descending at a 20-degree angle on the Outer Glide Slope (OGS). The Outer Glide Slope aiming point is 7,500 feet short of the runway threshold, and uses PAPI's for visual guidance in addition to the MLS system. At 2,000 feet AGL the guidance system changes to pre-flare and shortly after, at 1,700 feet (518 m), the pilot starts the flare maneuver to gradually reduce the descent angle and transition to the Inner Glide Slope (IGS) which is 1.5 degrees from 300 feet onwards, using a "Ball-bar" system for visual guidance. The shuttle landing gear release is simulated at 300 feet (90 m) above the ground surface, since the STA main gear has been down for the entire simulation. The nose gear of the STA is lowered at 150 feet (46 m) AGL in case of an inadvertent contact with the runway surface.
If the speed is correct, a green light on the instrument panel simulates shuttle landing when the pilot's eyes are 32 feet (10 m) above the runway. This is the exact position that the pilot's head would be during actual landing. In the exercise, the STA is still flying 20 feet (6 m) above the ground. The instructor pilot deselects the simulation mode, stows the thrust reversers, and executes a go-around, never--during practice approaches--actually landing the aircraft.
above from Wikipedia
See more information here from the AOPA.
Texas Air & Space Museum's Shuttle Training Aircraft
Built in 1976 and flown by astronauts (including Rick Husband) for thousands of hours, NASA 946's flying days are over. At 11:30 AM on the morning of September 21, 2011, two NASA Gulfstream II aircraft landed at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport and taxied to the Texas Air & Space Museum. The crew of one Gulfstream--N946NA--shut the aircraft down--for the last time, exited the aircraft--for the last time, and said goodbye to a trusted workhorse that had served NASA well for 35 years. 946's crew then boarded her sister ship and flew back to Houston, leaving 946--plus, the aircraft's manuals, logs, charts, handbooks and headsets--in a place where people of the Texas Panhandle and visitors from around the world could see, touch and feel a major contributor to our nation's space program.
Built in 1976 and flown by astronauts (including Rick Husband) for thousands of hours, NASA 946's flying days are over. At 11:30 AM on the morning of September 21, 2011, two NASA Gulfstream II aircraft landed at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport and taxied to the Texas Air & Space Museum. The crew of one Gulfstream--N946NA--shut the aircraft down--for the last time, exited the aircraft--for the last time, and said goodbye to a trusted workhorse that had served NASA well for 35 years. 946's crew then boarded her sister ship and flew back to Houston, leaving 946--plus, the aircraft's manuals, logs, charts, handbooks and headsets--in a place where people of the Texas Panhandle and visitors from around the world could see, touch and feel a major contributor to our nation's space program.
Thanks to Joseph H and Arlene Poole and others for their efforts in bringing this great aircraft, flown by one of the Panhandle's great aviators, to the Texas Air & Space Museum.
|
Aviators of the past remembered, aviators of the future inspired. |
|
And, last, from someone who knew the Shuttle Training Aircraft personally...
I've drafted some history on the STAs in case any of it is of interest. The STAs are and will always be my girls, each with a unique personality. Of my 28 years with NASA, I spent my first ten as the Shuttle Training Aircraft Project Engineer (1985-1995). I was responsible for the STA fleet maintenance and modifications. I've had a lot of really challenging assignments at NASA , but being the STA project engineer was my favorite. Working on those aircraft gave me the experience and insight that allows me to perform risk assessments, failure investigations, and system and crew survivability analyses, to name a few. Not many engineers get to be actively involved in the design, modification, manufacture, implementation, test, verification, inspection and maintenance of all aspects of a system, much less an entire fleet of aircraft. It was an engineer's dream job. However, the girls are much more interesting than I am.
The Shuttle Training Aircraft were specially modified aircraft developed to support training the approach and landing phase of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. When NASA retired the fleet of four highly-modified Gulfstream II, in 2011, at the end of the Shuttle program, it was the end of a highly successful in-flight crew training program. In 1976, NASA 946 and NASA 947 rolled off Grumman's Gulfstream assembly line with significant modifications to flight controls, engines, thrust reversers, and landing gear, to create the first Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA). After outfitting them with controls, displays and visual cues to simulate the Shuttle flight console, and onboard avionics and computers to model the approach and landing phase of the Shuttle profile, they were used to train the first to the last Shuttle flight crews, and all Shuttle crews between. Before flying the Shuttle, an astronaut was required to complete 500 dives in the STA, and maintain currency in the aircraft. Every astronaut that flew on the Shuttle, first flew on the STA. The Shuttle pilots and commanders always stated in their mission debrief how well the STAs prepared them for their Shuttle landing experience. From their perspective, the STA simulations matched the Orbiter landings look, feel and performance. We exceeded the adage "train like you fly, fly like you train." Not bad for making a fleet of the Cadillac's of business jets fly like a man-hole cover; 30,000 feet altitude to the ground in less than three minutes.
Later, NASA added NASA 944, then NASA 945. Once flown as corporate aircraft, NASA 944 and 945 were modified into STAs in 1984 and 1989, respectively. Before becoming an STA, NASA 945 also supported the Propfan testing at NASA's Glenn Research Center with a third engine installed on the original wing. The wing was replaced during the STA modification. The only significant design modification difference between NASA 946 and 947 and NASA 944 and 945 was the elimination of the side force controllers. They were two very large airfoils mounted perpendicular to the wing lower surface that were intended to augment yaw. The side force controllers were removed from the STA design because the consequence of a gear-up landing overshadowed the benefit to the simulation.
Throughout their lives, the STAs were maintained at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) Aircraft Operations in Houston, TX. As advancements in avionics and mathematical simulation techniques drove changes to the Orbiter design, the engineers and technicians in JSC's Aircraft Operations continued to update the simulation models and avionics to the STAs, including the implementation of a glass cockpit.
There were challenges. When Grumman informed us that the STAs were limited to a life of 5000 hours, we implemented a service life extension program. We instrumented the aircraft so we could characterize the operational parameters, then modeled the aircraft to determine critical locations and parameters. With the results of this program, we implemented an inspection and functional test plan to ensure continued, safe operation of the STAs. All of the aircraft exceeded 8000 hours without failure. NASA 946 exceeded 12,000 hours and NASA 947 retired with over 13,000 hours. The program ended with 39,769.3 hours, 162,863 simulated Orbiter approaches and 28,996 landings, and no failures of critical structure.
Like I said, they are my girls. NASA 947 now lives at the Evergreen Flight Museum in Portland, Oregon. NASA 946 has taken up residency with the Texas Air and Space Museum at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Amarillo, Texas. NASA 945 will soon be on display at the United States Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA 944 is on static display at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. If you get a chance to visit them, remember that they always returned our flight crews and astronauts safely, never complained, and asked very little from us, well, any lady appreciates a nice coat (of paint). Tell them I said hi.
Thank you for asking,
Karon Woods
NA131/Crew Survival & Operations Specialist
NASA JSC S&MA Flight Safety Office
Additional military and civilian aircraft may be seen at the Texas Air & Space Museum