how space shuttle can fly to the moon?
460310
The Space Shuttle can’t fly to the Moon—it only makes it about one five-hundredth of the way there, to low Earth orbit—because it doesn’t have the sheer thruster-power required to do so.\n\nIf you were to design a mission to the Moon, though, you’d need to use a carefully-calculated trajectory that takes into account the gravitational effects (and the mutual motions) of both Earth and the Moon.  The first step is to escape Earth’s gravity enough to head toward the Moon (and not just into a different orbit around Earth), so you fire your thrusters to change your velocity.  Then you need to aim for where the Moon will be (’cuz it’s constantly in motion around Earth, remember).  And then you have to enter orbit around the Moon, firing your thrusters again to position yourself properly in orbit.\n\nThat’s one way.\n\nESA’s SMART-1 spacecraft took a somewhat different approach.  It’s a lightweight ship that was launched with several other satellites into a geostationary orbit—about 50 times higher than the Shuttle flies.  Except that SMART-1 didn’t “circularize” its orbit like the other satellites; instead, it pushed itself into an orbit that took it very close to Earth then very far away.  Engineers timed the spacecraft’s most distant passes to take advantage of the Moon’s gravitational attraction, and eventually, SMART-1 nudged itself into orbit around the Moon.  In this case, very little thrust was used on the part of the spacecraft, so it could allow gravity to do most of the work.\n\nIn short, engineers tend to plan spacecraft trajectories very carefully, using a combination of thrust and gravity to get a ship exactly where they want it.\n\n\nRyan Wyatt\nRose Center for Earth & Space\nNew York, New York
477918
Outer space...and to the moon.
50530
Depends on which era.  On Gemini the missions were short and they did it in their space suits.  I'm not sure on Apollo.  I had the privilege to work for a while with Dale Gardner, who rode on the shuttle. He said on the shuttle they did it on a toilet that sucked the stuff with a vacuum.  He was funny.  He said that feeling that blast of cold air really made it hard to do your business!
877244
I saw this live on TV when it happened.  The flag did move.  Armstrong and Aldrin had to stand it up.  When they stood it up, they started it swinging.  It is swung like a pendulum.  And, because there is no atmosphere on the moon, there is no air resistance to slow it down.  Simple science.
823963
There are 2 ways you can view Earth from space.\n\n1: Type the word "earth" in your search bar and then click on "images"\n\n2: Fly to the moon.
79516
engines for space craft don't need to constantly exert forward thrust to keep going, like airplanes. They need to to escape the earth's gravity, but once cleared, they can keep going on forward momentum, using brief propulsion to correct the course of the space craft. \n\nMars and the moon cannot use gasoline based craft, there's no oxygen to burn, so they likely need electric motors, maybe solar powered. Not exactly sure on this but I would say an electric motor of sorts.
402650
I do not believe we have gone to the moon.. \nThe reason for this, purely is that technology back in the 60s-70s was not capable of making it to the moon. \n\nHell even today to go to the moon would be tough.. Sure we could get there, but to land, do the things that they claim they did back then (play golf, place the flag in the ground etc) and then to get back in that tiny little space capsule and make it back all the way to earth with enough air is outrageous. Not to mention all the radiation they would of encountered passing through the asteroid belt. According to NASA I think I read they are going to attempt another man mission to the moon in 2018. Why that long? Because they still have lots of kinks to work out and would not be able to fake it this time.\n\nIf you do a google or yahoo search on this subject you will see countless of articles on why man has not gone to the moon.. Just my two cents.
30984
sure, you just have to leave earth.  the acceleration on the moon is about 1.6 m/s^2.  so you'd need to go somewhere slightly larger than the moon, but not quite as large as the moon.  perhaps mars?  aha, on mars it is 3.7 m/s^2.  close enough?\n\nhttp://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/MichaelRobbins.shtml\nhttp://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/JahshirahRossi.shtml
1162285
Aircrafts' wings gives the aircraft lift (i.e. shaped so that when wind passes through, it will be pushed up), and once a certain velocity is reached, the upwards lift is enough to counteract the forces of gravity (and exceed it), and thus they fly.\n\nSpaceships achieves escape velocity to escape from the Earth's gravitation (or at least far enough for the space ship to reach orbit). Then, at the orbit, it orbits earth at a certain velocity which gives it enough velocity to counteract the remaining attraction from Earth's gravity, hence it stays in space.
1163354
Armstrong, Neil Alden (1930- ), one of the first civilian United States astronauts and the first human to set foot on the moon. Armstrong was the commander of the first Apollo program mission to land on the moon—Apollo 11—in July 1969. He also flew aboard a Gemini program mission in 1966 and has been a U.S. Navy combat pilot, test pilot, professor, businessman, and presidential adviser. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and numerous international awards for his service on Apollo 11.\n\nArmstrong was born in Wapokoneta, Ohio. When he was 16 years old he began flying as a student pilot. He earned a navy scholarship and began attending Purdue University in 1947. In 1950 Armstrong began active duty with the navy for the Korean War. He flew fighter planes in Korea until 1952, when he returned to Purdue. Armstrong earned his B.S. degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955.\n\nArmstrong joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) at the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1955, then transferred later that same year to the NACA Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He was a test pilot for many of the high-performance aircraft used to experiment with ideas for spacecraft. Armstrong left the Flight Research Center in 1962 to join the second group of U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut trainees.\n\nThis second group of trainees included the first two civilian astronaut candidates, Armstrong and test pilot Elliot See. (See unfortunately died in a plane crash while training to be commander of Gemini 9.) After completing initial training at NASA, Armstrong served as a backup to the Gemini 5 crew, then became the command pilot of Gemini 8; David R. Scott also flew aboard Gemini 8. The mission launched March 16, 1966, with the primary objective of docking with another spacecraft. Gemini 8 rendezvoused with a used segment of a launch vehicle called an Agena booster 298 km (185 mi) above the earth, and Armstrong successfully docked the two craft together 6 hours and 34 minutes into the mission. Roughly 30 minutes later, the paired spacecraft began to rotate unexpectedly and without any command from the astronauts. The rotation eventually reached about 60 revolutions per minute. The astronauts and the ground crew reacted rapidly and diagnosed a short circuit in the thruster rocket that controlled Gemini 8’s orientation. Armstrong and Scott had to use roughly 75 percent of Gemini 8's fuel to stabilize the craft, forcing the mission to end early with an emergency reentry during the seventh orbit.\n\nArmstrong’s next assignments were on the backup crews for the Gemini 11 and Apollo 8 missions. In 1968 he was assigned the position of commander for the Apollo 11 mission, joined by Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Allen Collins.\n\nThe mission objective for Apollo 11 was simply to take humans to the moon and return safely. Both NASA and the crew recognized the mission’s significance for all humans, and reflected this in several ways. Apollo 11’s mission patch is the only mission patch in NASA history to have no individual names on it. A plaque mounted on one leg of the lunar module, the part of the Apollo spacecraft that landed on the moon, bears a map of the earth, the signatures of President Richard Nixon and all three astronauts, and the inscription, “Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”\n\nApollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 16, 1969, and arrived in orbit around the moon on July 20. On the 14th orbit of the moon, following eight hours of preparation for the landing, the lunar module Eagle undocked from the command module Columbia and descended toward the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility). Armstrong began actively piloting the Eagle when the craft was about 1500 m (about 5000 ft) above the moon and 6 km (4 mi) east of the landing
1006732
As a previous poster correctly said, they have to launch at just the right time depending on where they are going.  For the upcoming launch, the space shuttle is going to the International Space Station.   The ISS orbits Earth (as all satellites do) so they have to launch the shuttle at the right time so that it's near the ISS when it (the shuttle) reaches orbit.  The ISS orbits Earth about once every 90 minutes, and the part of Earth it passes over keeps changing as Earth rotates, thus leading to a narrow launch window for the shuttle.\n\nBy the way, when the shuttle is orbitting Earth (this goes for the ISS, too) it doesn't zoom around in space they way they do in Star Wars or anything.  In fact, usually it doesn't have any rockets firing at all, it just orbits Earth, with the only force on it being the force of Earth's gravity.  The shuttle does have little rockets on it to make small changes in its trajectory, and to allow it to dock smoothly with the ISS.  My point is, if the shuttle were on the other side of Earth compared to the ISS, the shuttle wouldn't be able to dock with the ISS since the shuttle doesn't zoom around.
21288
They DID land on the moon. See the sources.
534409
Even though the moon is 238,000 miles away in a straight line; it will take several days to reach the moon in a rocket using todays technology. This is because a rocket does not fly in a straight line between earth and the moon - such a trajectroy would require a phenomenal amount of speed and fuel. Rockets fly into orbit, circle the earth several times, and gradually alter their orbit to an orbit which intersects with the moon blah blah blah...\n\nThe international space station is about 220 miles above the earth, and it takes two days to reach it on a space rocket. The rocket has to fly many times around the earth and gradually intercept the ISS.
1143426
Once a craft gets to space, it is not affected by earth's spin. If a shuttle is meeting up with another craft (i.e. space-station) the orbits must be in-sync when the shuttle gets to space. There are only certain times when the orbits will be correct. NASA refers to the time when the shuttle needs to launch as a window.
176540
Check the NASA website, they have descriptions of all of the space shuttle flights.
1173168
Space Transportation System
508347
It needs air to fly.  However, it can use very thin air.  One idea for using the space plane is to fly it out of the atmosphere, where its engine will cease to function.  The plane then glides as far as it can outside the atmosphere.  As it begins loosing altitude (because it is on a suborbital trajectory) it reenters the atmosphere and the SCRAM jet engine will work again.  It keeps skipping across the top of the atmosphere this way until it reaches its destination.\n\nThis trick saves a lot of fuel because aerodynamic drag is minimal while the plane is outside the atmosphere.