The body worksheet

Space Shuttles For Kids What is a Space Shuttle

Have you ever dreamed about traveling in space and going to the moon?

Many people dreamed of space travel, even before the Space Age began.
But it was not until April 1961 that a human being managed to travel in space. A Soviet pilot, Yuri Gagarin, was launched into a single orbit of the earth in a spacecraft called Vostok 1.

Gagarin was the first cosmonaut.

Cosmonaut is the Russian name for astronaut.

The first American in space was Alan Shepard. 

Shepard went 117 miles (188 kilometers) into space and came down again 15 minutes later. He did not go into orbit. Shepards spacecraft was a small capsule called Freedom 7.

There is a great difference between a manned spacecraft and a satellite. A manned spacecraft must be able to carry human beings safely into space, keep them alive while they are there, and carry them safely back to earth.
To keep the crew alive, a manned spacecraft has a life-support system. This provides the astronauts with air, food, and water. It allows for breathing, eating, drinking, elimination of body wastes, sleeping, exercise, and recreation—all in a temperature-controlled environment.

How do space shuttles come back to earth?

One of the most dangerous times for a crew of astronauts comes when their spacecraft returns to earth. It drops down from orbit, traveling at a speed of about 16,120 miles (26,000 kilometers) an hour.
And it enters the earths atmosphere at this speed.
This return to the earths atmosphere is called reentry.
The air rubs against the outside of the spacecraft as it re-enters the atmosphere, making it slow down and heat up.
The spacecraft is covered with a thick heat shield. If there were no shield, the spacecraft would burn up, just like a shooting star.

How are spacecrafts launched into space?

Early spacecraft, such as Vostok and Apollo, were launched into space by huge rockets. Only the tiny capsule containing the crew came back, and that could never be used again.
This was a very wasteful method of space travel.
In 1981, a new kind of spacecraft took to the skies. This space vehicle took off like a rocket and landed like an airplane. It first took off into space in April. By November, it was being used again—the first reusable, manned spacecraft. This craft was the American space shuttle.

Space shuttle launching system

The space shuttle launching system has three main parts.
The crew flies in the orbiter. This looks rather like an ordinary plane with triangular wings. It flies into space mounted on a huge external tank which holds fuel for its engines.
Just before a launch, two solid rocket boosters are fixed to the tank. They help to lift the shuttle high into the air, and then they fall away.
The fuel tank falls away soon after.
The orbiter is the only part which goes into orbit.
Once in orbit, the shuttle may open up to release or retrieve a satellite, or the crew conducts experiments.
The space shuttle then returns to earth. It lands on a runway at a speed of about 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour.

Space shuttle orbiter

The orbiter has two main parts, a crew cabin in the nose and a huge bay behind for carrying payload, or cargo.
The shuttle has carried satellites and space probes into space. The cargo bay has large doors which can open when the shuttle reaches orbit.
The underside of the orbiter has a thick heat shield made up of more than 25,000 special tiles.
This shield protects the orbiter when it re-enters the earths atmosphere.
The crew cabin is supplied with air in the same way that an airliner is.
The cabin has two main decks. The upper one is the flight deck, where the crew fly the craft. The front cockpit looks similar to that of an airliner, with more than 2,000 switches, buttons, and dials.
The crews living quarters are on the middeck underneath. for details click below