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{{short description|Extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters}}{{Use American English|date=May 2020}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}{|

factoids

factoids

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two retired extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. One (N905NA) is a 747-100 model, while the other (N911NA) is a short-range 747-100SR.The SCAs were used to ferry Space Shuttles from landing sites back to the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. The orbiters were placed on top of the SCAs by Mate-Demate Devices, large gantry-like structures that hoisted the orbiters off the ground for post-flight servicing then mated them with the SCAs for ferry flights.In approach and landing test flights conducted in 1977, the test shuttle Enterprise was released from an SCA during flight and glided to a landing under its own control.WEB,weblink Shuttle Enterprise Free Flight, November 28, 2007, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1977, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, ECN-8607, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130307094536weblink">weblink March 7, 2013,

Design and development

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy was considered for the shuttle-carrier role by NASA but rejected in favor of the 747. This was due to the 747's low-wing design in comparison to the C-5's high-wing design, and also because the U.S. Air Force would have retained ownership of the C-5, while NASA could own the 747s outright.File:Shuttle Enterprise at Ellington Airfield 1978 4.jpg|thumb|left|Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N905NA, still in American AirlinesAmerican AirlinesThe first aircraft, a Boeing 747-123 registered N905NA, was originally manufactured for American Airlines. With a decline in air traffic and failure to fill their 747s, American Airlines sold it to NASA. It still wore the visible American cheatlines while testing Enterprise in the 1970s. It was acquired in 1974 and initially used for trailing wake vortex research as part of a broader study by NASA Dryden, as well as Shuttle tests involving an F-104 flying in close formation and simulating a release from the 747.The aircraft was extensively modified for NASA by Boeing in 1976.BOOK, Jenkins, Dennis R., Boeing 747-100/200/300/SP, AirlinerTech Series, 6, Specialty Press, 2000, 1-58007-026-4, 36–38, While first-class seats were kept for NASA passengers, its main cabin and insulation were stripped,{{r|brack20120917}} and the fuselage was strengthened. Mounting struts were added on top of the 747, located to match the fittings on the Shuttle that attach it to the external fuel tank for launch.How was Enterprise Held and Released from the Carrier 747 With the Shuttle riding on top, the center of gravity was altered. Vertical stabilizers were added to the tail to improve stability when the Orbiter was being carried. The avionics and engines were also upgraded.An internal escape slide was added behind the flight deckBOOK, Approach and Landing Test Evaluation Team, February 1978, Space Shuttle Orbiter Approach and Landing Test: Final Evaluation Report,weblink Houston, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, April 21, 2020, in case of catastrophic failure mid-flight. In the event of a bail-out, explosives would be detonated to make an opening in the fuselage at the bottom of the slide, allowing the crew to exit through the slide and parachute to the ground. The slide system was removed following the Approach and Landing Tests because of concerns over the possibility of escaping crew members being ingested into an engine.PRESS RELEASE, Creech, Gray, August 22, 2003,weblink Gravel Haulers: NASA's 747 Shuttle Carriers, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, en, April 20, 2020, Flying with the additional drag and weight of the Orbiter imposed significant fuel and altitude penalties. The range was reduced to {{convert|1000|nmi}}, compared to an unladen range of {{convert|5500|nmi}}, requiring an SCA to stop several times to refuel on a transcontinental flight.{{harvp|Jenkins|2000|pp=38–39}}. Without the Orbiter, the SCA needed to carry ballast to balance its center of gravity.WEB,weblink Inside the Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, National Geographic, September 17, 2012, September 17, 2012, Brack, Jon, The SCA had an altitude ceiling of {{convert|15000|ft|||}} and a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.6 with the orbiter attached. A crew of 170 took a week to prepare the shuttle and SCA for flight.WEB, Felix, Gilette,weblink How the Space Shuttle Flies Home, August 9, 2005, Slate, June 1, 2019, Studies were conducted to equip the SCA with aerial refueling equipment, a modification already made to the U.S. Air Force E-4 (modified 747-200s) and 747 tanker transports for the IIAF. However, during formation flying with a tanker aircraft to test refueling approaches, minor cracks were spotted on the tailfin of N905NA. While these were not likely to have been caused by the test flights, it was felt that there was no sense taking unnecessary risks. Since there was no urgent need to provide an aerial refueling capacity, the tests were suspended.File:Atlantis on Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.jpg|thumb|Atlantis atop Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N905NA after being repainted with NASA livery in 1998]]By 1983, SCA N905NA no longer carried the distinct American Airlines tricolor cheatline. NASA replaced it with its own livery, consisting of a white fuselage and a single blue cheatline.Comparison of photos taken in 1982 and 1983 at Airliners.net That year, after secretly being fitted with an infrared countermeasures system to protect it from heat-seeking missiles,WEB, Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick and Tyler, Space Shuttle Carrying 747 Was Secretly Modified To Defend Itself From Heat-Seeking Missiles (Updated),weblink 2022-01-29, The Drive, January 27, 2022, en, it was also used to fly Enterprise on a tour in Europe, with refueling stops in Goose Bay, Canada; Keflavik, Iceland; England; and West Germany. It then went to the Paris Air Show.(File:SCA and Endeavour at Ellington Field, 1991.jpg|left|thumb|Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N911NA, shortly after purchase, with newly built shuttle Endeavour in 1991.)In 1988, in the wake of the Challenger accident, NASA procured a surplus 747SR-46 from Japan Airlines. Registered N911NA, it entered service with NASA in 1990 after undergoing modifications similar to N905NA. It was first used in 1991 to ferry the new shuttle Endeavour from the manufacturers in Palmdale, California to Kennedy Space Center.(File:Shuttle mounting point.JPG|thumb|Humorous note on mount reminding technicians how to connect the orbiter to the SCA)Based at the Dryden Flight Research Center within Edwards Air Force Base in California{{r|brack20120917}} the two aircraft were functionally identical, although N911NA has five upper-deck windows on each side, while N905NA has only two. The rear mounting points on both aircraft were labeled with humorous instructions to "attach orbiter here" or "place orbiter here", clarified by the precautionary note "black side down".2003 Edwards Air Force Base Air Show, see Shuttle Carrier images.Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N911NA album on PhotobucketShuttle Carriers were capable of operating from alternative shuttle landing sites such as those in the United Kingdom, Spain, and France. Because Shuttle Carrier's range is reduced while mated to an orbiter, additional preparations such as removal of the payload from the orbiter may have been necessary to reduce its weight.WEB,weblink Space Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) Sites, December 2006, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, July 1, 2009, Boeing transported its Phantom Ray unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator from St. Louis, Missouri, to Edwards on a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft on December 11, 2010.Boeing Phantom Ray to catch shuttle ride at Lambert

Approach and Landing Tests

File:OV-101 first flight.jpg|thumb|Space Shuttle Enterprise detaches from Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N905NA during ALT-13]]The Approach and Landing Tests were a series of taxi and flight trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise, conducted at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977. They verified the shuttle's flight characteristics when mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and when flying on its own, prior to the Shuttle system becoming operational. There were 3 taxi tests, 8 captive flight tests and 5 free flight tests.

Ferry flights

{{Further|List of Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flights}}File:Shuttle mate demate facility.jpg|thumb|Atlantis being mated to Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N911NA at using the Mate-Demate DeviceMate-Demate DeviceDuring the decades of Shuttle operations, the SCAs were most often used to transport the orbiters from Edwards Air Force Base, the shuttle's secondary landing site, to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center where the orbiter was processed for another launch. The SCAs were also used to transport the orbiters between manufacturer Rockwell International and NASA during initial delivery and mid-life refits.WEB, STS Chronology,weblink National Aeronautics and Space Administration, At the end of the Space Shuttle program the SCA was used to deliver the retired orbiters from the Kennedy Space Center to their museums.Discovery was flown to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum at the Dulles International Airport on April 17, 2012, making low-level passes over Washington, D.C. landmarks before landing. Enterprise, which had been on display at the Smithsonian was transported to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City on April 27, 2012, making low-level passes over the city's landmarks, before landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where it was transferred by barge to the museum.The last ferry flight took Endeavour from Kennedy Space Center to Los Angeles between September 19 and 21, 2012 with refueling stops at Ellington Field and Edwards Air Force Base. After leaving Edwards the SCA with Endeavour performed low level flyovers above various landmarks across California, from Sacramento to the San Francisco Bay Area, before finally being delivered to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). From there the orbiter was transported through the streets of Los Angeles and Inglewood to its final destination, the California Science Center in Exposition Park.

Retirement

File:Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N911NA on display in Palmdale, California in June 2015.jpg|thumb|left|N911NA sits on display at the Joe Davies Heritage AirparkJoe Davies Heritage AirparkShuttle Carrier N911NA was retired on February 8, 2012, after its final mission to the Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base in Palmdale, California, and was used as a source of parts for NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft, another modified Boeing 747.NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 911's Final Flight N911NA is now preserved and on display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale, California as part of a long-term loan to the city from NASA.PRESS RELEASE,weblink Final Journey: SCA 911 on Display at Davies Airpark, Gibbs, Yvonne, September 12, 2014, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, June 15, 2018, en, NEWS,weblink NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Gibbs, Yvonne, September 24, 2014, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, June 15, 2018, en, File:Shuttle Independence and NASA 905 at Space Center Houston.jpg|thumb|N905NA on display with mockup Space Shuttle Independence at Space Center HoustonSpace Center HoustonShuttle Carrier {{Anchor|N905NA}}N905NA was used to ferry the retired Space Shuttles to their respective museums. After delivering Endeavour to the Los Angeles International Airport in September 2012, the aircraft was flown to the Dryden Flight Research Facility, where NASA intended it to join N911NA as a source of spare parts for NASA's SOFIA aircraft,WEB,weblink A graphic history of 35 years of Space Shuttle ferry flights now adorns the upper forward fuselage of NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Tony, Landis, but when NASA engineers surveyed N905NA they determined that it had few parts usable for SOFIA. In 2013, a decision was made to preserve N905NA and display it at Space Center Houston with the mockup Space Shuttle Independence mounted on its back.NEWS,weblink Houston's Shuttle Gets New Name, Familiar Ride, Spaceflight Insider, October 8, 2013, N905NA was flown to Ellington Field where it was carefully dismantled, ferried to the Johnson Space Center in seven major pieces (a process called The Big Move), reassembled, and finally mated with the replica shuttle in August 2014.NEWS, SpaceDaily,weblink Shuttle replica lifted and put on top of 747 carrier, Brooks, Hays, United Press International, August 14, 2014, The display, called Independence Plaza, opened to the public for the first time on January 23, 2016.NEWS, Seeing Is Believing: Enormous Shuttle Program Artifact Inspires Wonder, Calla, Cofield, January 29, 2016,weblink Space.com, December 20, 2022,

Specifications

(File:Shuttle Carrier Aircraft diagram.svg|300px|right|SCA 3-view schematic){{Aircraft specs|ref=Boeing 747-100 specificationsBoeing 747-100 Technical Specifications, Boeing Jenkins 2000|prime units?=kts|crew= Four: two pilots, two flight engineers (one flight engineer when not carrying Shuttle)

108,999.6

lb|0}} payload (external Shuttle Orbiter Cargo)|length ft=231|length in=4|length note=|span ft=195|span in=8|span note=|height ft=63|height in=5|height note=|wing area sqft=5500|wing area note=|aspect ratio=|airfoil=|empty weight lb=318000|empty weight note=|gross weight lb=|gross weight note=|max takeoff weight lb=710000|max takeoff weight note=|fuel capacity=|more general=|eng1 number=4|eng1 name=Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7J|eng1 type=turbofan engines|eng1 lbf=50000|eng1 note=|max speed kts=|max speed note=|max speed mach=|cruise speed kts=250|cruise speed note= / M0.6 with Shuttle Orbiter loaded|stall speed kts=|stall speed note=|never exceed speed kts=|never exceed speed note=|minimum control speed kts=|minimum control speed note=|range nmi=1150|range note=with Shuttle Orbiter loaded|ferry range nmi=|ferry range note=|endurance=|ceiling ft=15000|ceiling note=with Shuttle Orbiter loaded|climb rate ftmin=|climb rate note=|time to altitude=|wing loading lb/sqft=|wing loading note=|fuel consumption lb/mi=|thrust/weight=|more performance=|avionics=}} See also {hide}Aircontent|see also= {{annotated link|Airborne aircraft carrier{edih}|similar aircraft= {{annotated link|Antonov An-225 Mriya}} {{annotated link|Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy}} {{annotated link|Conroy Virtus}} {{annotated link|Myasishchev VM-T}}|lists= List of Boeing 747 operators }} References {{Reflist}} Further reading BOOK, Jenkins, Dennis R., Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System, The First 100 Missions, 3rd, Midland Publishing, 2001, 0-9633974-5-1, External links {{Commons category}} NASA fact sheet NASA SCA images Interview with SCA Pilot and Former Astronaut Gordon Fullerton {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722201757weblink |date=July 22, 2011 }} Interview with SCA Crew Chief Pete Seidl {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722201818weblink |date=July 22, 2011 }} {{YouTube|NjPO8k2r-ks|"Hoot Gibson talks about John Kiker's 747 ferry model"}} {{HAER |survey=TX-116-L |id=tx1165 |title=Space Transportation System, Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Harris County, TX |photos=8 |color=3 |cap=3}} {{Boeing 747 family}}{{Space Shuttle}}{{Outsized cargo aircraft}}{{Space Shuttle Enterprise}}