What was the longest Space Shuttle
Mission?
Here are the three longest missions:
Columbia STS-80
Launched: November 19, 1996
Duration: 17 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes, 18 seconds.
Columbia STS-78
Launched: June 20, 1996
Duration: 16 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes, 30 seconds.
Endeavour STS-67
Launched: March 2, 1995
Duration: 16 days, 15 hours, 08 minutes, 48 seconds.
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How high does the Space Shuttle
Orbit above the Earth?
Space shuttles orbit the Earth at an altitude
between 200 and 385 miles, depending on mission requirements.
A typical space shuttle mission involves
docking with the MIR space station. MIR orbits at an altitude
of about 240 miles. The shuttle must obviously reach this same
altitude.
For example, the Shuttle Atlantis docked
with MIR as part of the STS-86 mission.
Note that the shuttle mission which placed
the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit reached an altitude of
385 miles. This was the STS-31R mission, launched on April 24,
1990. This mission apparently holds the record for the highest
altitude for a space shuttle.
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What is the maximum acceleration of the
Space Shuttle?
The space shuttle accelerates to a maximum
value of 3 G during launch.
Furthermore, it experiences 2 G acceleration
during reentry.
Reference:
B. Bondar and R. Bondar, On the Shuttle
Eight Days in Space,
Greey de Pencier Books, Toronto, 1993.
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