Why does the Space Shuttle weigh so much?
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Why does the Space Shuttle weigh so much?
The 2 solid rocket boosters have the capacity to hold over 1 million pounds of fuel each. The orbital that breaks away from these rocket boosters and external tank, and then goes into orbit and returns to earth, weighs almost 200,000 pounds, which is about the weight of a Blue Whale.
How much did the shuttle stack weigh?
The height of the full shuttle stack, including the external fuel tank, is 184.2 feet. Gross weight is 4.5 million pounds at liftoff. That’s almost four times as weighty as the heaviest airplane ever built, the 1.2-million-pound Russian An-225 airplane.
How much did Space Shuttle orbiter weight?
In the day-to-day world of Shuttle operations and processing, Space Shuttle orbiters go by a more prosaic designation. Discovery is commonly refered to as OV-103, for Orbiter Vehicle-103. Empty Weight was 151,419 lbs at rollout and 171,000 lbs with main engines installed.
How much does the shuttle weigh?
4.4 million pounds
The entire shuttle vehicle, fully loaded, weighed about 2 million kg (4.4 million pounds) and required a combined thrust of about 35 million newtons (7.8 million pounds-force) to reach orbital altitude.
How much did the space shuttle Challenger weigh?
Space Shuttle Challenger
| Challenger | |
|---|---|
| Dry mass | 80,600 kilograms (177,700 pounds) |
| Flight history | |
| First flight | STS-6 April 4–9, 1983 |
| Last flight | STS-51-L January 28, 1986 |
What do spaceships weigh?
Selected spacecraft (by mass)
| Name | Mass | In service from |
|---|---|---|
| International Space Station | 440,725 kg (971,632 lb) | 1998– (at present size: 2021–) |
| Mir | 129,700 kg (285,940 lb) | 1986–2001 |
| Space Shuttle | 122,683 kg (270,470 lb) | 1981–2011 |
| Buran | 105,000 kg (231,485 lb) | 1988–1988 |
Why was the space shuttle retired?
While reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Columbia broke apart, killing the entire crew. All of these factors — high costs, slow turnaround, few customers, and a vehicle (and agency) that had major safety problems — combined to make the Bush administration realize it was time for the Space Shuttle Program to retire.