Back then, shuttle takeoffs and landings happened with relative frequency. So the s were used to bring the shuttles from wherever they landed usually Edwards Air Force Base, in Southern California back to Kennedy Space Center, on the east coast of Central Florida, so they could be prepared and sent back into space. This has been the running joke in recent years about all the weight that the plane must have been carrying with a space shuttle on its back.
But the meme brings up a very good point — how DID they get an ordinary able to ferry a shuttle? Welp, it turns out those were no ordinary s. The skin of a plane is structurally made to withstand the pressure of flying at several tens of thousands of feet. However, having a space shuttle on its back is a whole other ballgame. So two planes were, not surprisingly, modified quite a bit, thanks to the work and calculations of aeronautical engineers.
Attachment points were built into the to accommodate the weight and movement of the shuttle. Most seats in the cabin were removed the first-class seats remained for NASA passengers , the main cabin was stripped, and the fuselage was made stronger. In fact, it's a relatively easy load to hoist. Discovery taken its final destination, a Smithsonian museum. A shuttle can't fly itself after it leaves orbit, as it is basically a big glider. All that's well-known, at least to space buffs.
But what may surprise many people is that a Boeing with a space shuttle strapped on its roof weighs less -- that's right, less -- than a airliner full of passengers. More Videos Space shuttle Discovery retires At first that might seem counterintuitive, but Lisa Malone, a spokeswoman for NASA, says the they use is stripped clean of anything in the main cabin.
There's a cockpit and a big empty shell. But the s used by airlines have hundreds of seats, galleys, lavatories -- even a bar in some cases.
Add plus passengers, their luggage, food, water and assorted other cargo, and the weight adds up. Capturing Discovery's final flight. Once Discovery is lifted in the air by the Mate-Demate device, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will roll beneath it, positioning itself under the belly of the orbiter, which can then be lowered down and attached via three struts protruding from the Boeing's fuselage.
The linked vehicles will then take off the runway much like a normal airliner and fly up the Eastern seaboard to the Udvar-Hazy Center, a hangar-turned-museum near the Dulles International Airport.
Before they land at the airport, however, the two are scheduled to take a twirl roughly 1, feet above major landmarks in Washington, D. At the Dulles airport, the attachment process will be performed in reverse. Discovery will be demated from its ride and lifted into the air by a pair of giant cranes there's no Mate-Demate gantry here.
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