iriam Gross us a n o r s A All Abou s e k c o R u All Abo es i l l e a All Abou s n o i s s i e pac u o b A l Al es l u h e pac u o b A All s n o i a pace u o b A All L T T U H C A P u o b A l l A All Abou PAC HUTTL s e i r e s i h T n i s Tile Blas Off! RON / PowerKids Press IBN 978-1-4358-2738-7 iriam Gross
Published in 2009 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 29 as 21s ree, New York, NY 10010 Copyrigh 2009 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. All righs reserved. No par of his book may be reproduced in any form wihou permission in wriing from he publisher, excep by a reviewer. dior: Joanne Randolph Book Design: Greg Tucker Phoo Researcher: Jessica Gerweck Firs diion Phoo Credis: Cover, pp. 5, 11,15, 17, 19 Gey Images; pp. 7, 13, 21 AFP/Gey Images; p. 9 huersock.com. Library of Congress Caaloging-in-Publicaion Daa Gross, iriam J. All abou space shules / iriam Gross. 1s ed. p. cm. (Blas off!) Includes bibliographical references and index. IBN 978-1-4358-2738-7 (library binding) IBN 978-1-4358-3136-0 (pbk.) IBN 978-1-4358-3142-1 (6-pack) 1. pace shules Juvenile lieraure. I. Tile. TL795.515.G76 2009 629.44 1 dc22 2008030437 anufacured in he Unied aes of America
Conens pace Plane Hisory of pace hules Pars of a pace hule Blasing Off ino pace Reurning o arh Uses for he pace hule The pace hule Columbia The pace hule Challenger The pace hule Discovery Wha Is Nex? Glossary Index Web ies 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 23 24 24
pace Plane Look up in he sky! Is ha a bird? Is ha a plane? No, i is he space shule! pace shules roar ino space like rockes and fly back down o arh like airplanes. When hey ge o space, space shules orbi arh, or fly around i in a circle. They can say in space for weeks a a ime. The same shule can fly o space and back o arh many imes. People call he space shule a workhorse because i does so many jobs in space. pace shules make i easier for asronaus o explore, or visi and learn more abou, space. 4
Here he space shule Discovery akes off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shule was carrying a par for he Inernaional pace aion, which is a saellie, or spacecraf orbiing arh. 5
Hisory of pace hules A governmen organizaion called he Naional Aeronauics and pace Adminisraion (NA) began sending people ino space on rockes in 1961. Launching, or pushing off, ino space desroyed hese early rockes. ach rocke could be used only once. NA waned o send people ino space more ofen, bu i cos oo much money and was waseful. In 1972, NA began working on a new kind of spacecraf ha could be reused. The firs space shule ever buil was called nerprise. I was buil in 1977 bu was used only for esing. 6
People are shown here visiing he nerprise a he mihsonian s even F. Udvar-Hazy Cener, in Virginia. The nerprise was flown in 16 es flighs. 7
Blasing Off ino pace A shule weighs 4.5 million pounds (2 million kg) when i is ready o launch. Rocke boosers push he heavy shule off he ground wih grea force. Two minues afer he shule has aken off, he rocke boosers drop off from he orbier and land in he ocean. hips find hem and ake hem back o land o use again. Afer nine minues, he exernal fuel ank also drops off. I burns up on is way back o arh. ngines on he orbier hen fire o pu he shule on he righ pah o orbi arh. 10
The par ha is shooing ou fire here is one of he rocke boosers. Hea and gas combine o creae a huge amoun of force, which les he shule blas ino space. 11
Uses for he pace hule A space shule can do many jobs. pace shules carry asronaus o and from space saions, such as ir and he Inernaional pace aion. They can help carry up supplies and pars o build he space saions. pace shules can be used o launch saellies ino orbi. They can also bring asronaus ou o fix saellies ha have broken in space. pace shules can also carry special labs where asronaus can run experimens. In he labs, hey can es how hings work in space, where here is no graviy. 14
The space shule Discovery is shown here as i ges ready o dock wih he I. Discovery was bringing a piece o add o he space saion. 15
The pace hule Challenger Challenger was he second space shule launched ino orbi. I made is firs fligh in 1983. On January 28, 1986, Challenger lifed off for is enh mission. Among he asronaus on board was a eacher named Chrisa cauliffe. Jus afer ake-off, he Challenger blew up in he air. All seven asronaus died in his acciden. any people had wached he launch on TV. The whole counry fel very sad abou he asronaus. NA did no fly any more space shules for he nex wo years. 18
This is he crew of he 1986 Challenger fligh, who were los jus 73 seconds afer launch. Chrisa cauliffe is he second person from he lef in he back row. 19
Wha Is Nex? pace shules have flown more han 120 missions. They have helped us explore space more han we ever could before. NA will reire he space shules when i has finished building he Inernaional pace aion. A new kind of spacecraf will ake he space shule s place. I will also bring people ino space, bu i will ravel even farher. By 2020, NA hopes o send people back o he oon. Afer ha, hey hope o send people o ars and maybe even o oher planes. 22
Glossary acciden (AK-sih-den) An unexpeced and someimes bad hing ha happens. asronaus (A-ruh-nos) People who are rained o ravel in ouer space. amosphere (AT-muh-sfeer) The gases around an objec in space. On arh, his is air. abou somehing. engines (N-jinz) achines ha use fuel o move an objec. experimens (ik-pr-uh-mens) es of acions or seps aken o learn more cener of arh. fuel (FYOOL) omehing used o make warmh or power. graviy (GRA-vih-ee) The naural force ha causes objecs o move oward he mission (IH-shun) A special job. parachue (PAR-uh-shoo) A large piece of cloh shaped like an umbrella ha is used o slow down a falling or moving objec. reire (rih-ty-ur) To decide no o use anymore. saellies (-ih-lys) Naural or manmade objecs ha circle a plane in space. space saions (PAY TAY-shunz) Large saellies where humans can work and live for long periods of ime in space and ha can also be a base for sending oher spacecraf farher ino space. ragedy (TRA-jeh-dee) A very sad even. 23
Index N asronaus, 4, 8, 14, 16, 18, 20 amosphere, 12 Naional Aeronauics and pace Adminisraion (NA), 6, 16, 18, 22 saellies, 14 sky, 4, 16 space, 4, 6, 8, 14, 16, 20, 22 space saion(s), 14, 20, 22 arh, 4, 10, 12, 16 engines, 10 experimens, 14 O G parachue, 12 people, 4, 6, 22 P graviy, 14 orbier, 8, 10, 12 R T ragedy, 16, 20 W workhorse, 4 rocke(s), 4, 6 mission(s), 16, 18, 20, 22 A web sies Due o he changing naure of Inerne links, PowerKids Press has developed an online lis of Web sies relaed o he subjec of his book. This sie is updaed regularly. Please use his link o access he lis: www.powerkidslinks.com/blasoff/shules/ 24