shuttletrainer16
The Full Fuselage Trainer lacks wings, but was used to train every shuttle astronaut that flew into space.
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After exiting the flight deck through the overhead windows, the astronauts would slide down the outside of the FFT using ropes. The scuff marks on the side of the trainer show the long history of the FFT.
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A view from the inside shows the hatch back to the mid-deck as well as the hatch above which would be used to access the ISS.
View ArticleFirst Planets
After three and a half years, NASA’s prolific planet-hunting Kepler space telescope is getting ready to enter its extended mission. Over the last two decades, astronomers have discovered many...
View ArticleKepler’s Stars
Kepler’s Stars Though a planet-hunting mission, Kepler has been a boon to astronomers that study stars. We only have one real close-up example of a star -- our sun – but it can’t tell us about all the...
View ArticlePossible Ocean World
Possible Ocean World So far, Kepler-22b is the closest things we’ve got to home. The planet, which is 600 light-years from Earth and has a radius about 2.4 times that of our own planet, orbits a...
View ArticleQuadruple Star System
Quadruple Star System If binary stars with planets aren’t your thing, why not try quadruple-star-systems with planets? In October, NASA announced the discovery of PH1, a planet found using Kepler data...
View ArticleRocky World
Rocky World Kepler is always on the lookout for the most Earth-like planets it can spot. Kepler-10b was the first world confirmed to be rocky like our own. The planet has a radius about 1.4 times that...
View ArticleTatooine World
Tatooine World Scientists looking to convey their discoveries in layman’s terms couldn’t do much better than Kepler-16b. The planet was the first to be discovered orbiting two stars, much like Luke...
View ArticleTiniest Planets
Tiniest Planets Kepler-42 contains the cutest little solar system ever seen. The red dwarf star is host to three rocky planets that are all smaller than the Earth, with the smallest being roughly...
View ArticleTwo Planets, One Star
Two Planets, One Star Continuing Kepler’s series of early firsts were the two planets found orbiting the star Kepler-9. Kepler 9b and 9c were in the mission’s first multi-planet system. The Saturn-size...
View ArticleNov 16, 2012
Stellar Stellar Cluster Like a July 4 fireworks display, a young, glittering collection of stars looks like an aerial burst. The cluster is surrounded by clouds of interstellar gas and dust—the raw...
View ArticleNov 17, 2012
Dry Ice Spiders of Mars Have you ever played with dry ice (with leather gloves on of course!)? Perhaps you've made Halloween punch? Set a spooky scene? The fun comes from the fact that dry ice goes...
View ArticleNov 18, 2012
Planetary Nebula Reborn These images of the planetary nebula Abell 30 show one of the clearest views ever obtained of a special phase of evolution for these objects. The inset image on the right is a...
View ArticleTitan, King of the Geeks
Ancient civilizations gave us the names of planets in our solar system. But as modern scientists have zoomed in on these bodies and their moons, they have needed to find names for ever more features on...
View ArticleValleys of Discovery
Valleys of Discovery Astronomical nerds will recognize that all valleys on Mercury are named for radio telescope facilities. But even if you’re not a stargazer, you will know the Arecibo telescope....
View ArticleMount Doom
Mount Doom All mountains on Titan are named for fictional peaks in Tolkien’s books. In addition to Mount Doom, there is Mount Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, where Bilbo and company travel to fight the...
View ArticleNov 20, 2012
Galactic Gas Bridge ESA’s Planck space telescope has made the first conclusive detection of a bridge of hot gas connecting a pair of galaxy clusters across 10 million light-years of intergalactic...
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