The public may view test firings of a space shuttle main engine when they occur during the visitor center's hours of operation and at scheduled public test fire viewings that will be announced through local media and on the Stennis Web site. To find out if a test is scheduled to occur on a day when you would like to visit, call the visitors center at 1-800-237-1821 in Mississippi and Louisiana, or (228) 688-2370.

For information on NASA's space shuttle Return to Flight activities, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/news/highlights/returntoflight.html. NASA also has a Web site dedicated to human spaceflight where information on space shuttle launches can be found. It is located at: http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov.

Safest, most reliable and affordable approach to meeting crew transportation requirements for exploration missions The capsule shape allows the main thermal protection system for reentry, the heat shield, to be protected (covered by the service module) until it is needed for reentry, unlike winged vehicles whose thermal protective system is exposed for ascent and on orbit. The capsule shape is more stable aerodynamically for entry for both nominal auto guided entries and emergency abort entries.

A6. Long range fishing boats almost all have one engine. It is more efficient, and generally more cost effective to only have one trustworthy engine. Also, a single engine design has a much more protected propeller, which can be important in some places. Our boat does have a complete secondary propulsion system called the "wing engine". The wing engine sits off the side and has its own drive shaft, propeller, and fuel supply.

The only other vehicle in the world capable of carrying people into space is Russia's Soyuz rocket, which is an expendable launch vehicle that can be outfitted with a capsule designed for human flight in space and return to Earth. All other space vehicles in existence are expendable vehicles that are only capable of one-way trips to space.

NASA has a single place for Station and Shuttle tracking, and that is the Human Space Flight Web site. Since J-Track (1.4 and 2.0) and J-Pass have JAVA class files with the same names, sometimes browsers gets confused and try to use the file loaded for one applet in the other rather than downloading a new one. You can ensure that the new class is downloaded by dumping your cache and re-visiting the web page.

We test the engine by first checking the coolant and oil levels. The engine is started and brought up to operating temperature. By continually monitoring the blowby and exhaust smoke, we determine if the engine is excessively burning oil. We listen for any noises, such as knocks and top end noise. Oil pressure is checked by a pressure guage whenever possible. The engine is compression tested and the data recorded.

These elements change too often for AMSAT's regular weekly bulletins to keep up with. Possible sources are listed on the AMSAT Keplerian Elements page.

Yes, depending on your location, the orbit of the shuttle and station and lighting conditions, you might be able to see the shuttle and station from the ground. A detailed list of sighting opportunities is posted on the Web at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html The most up-to-date orbital elements for the shuttle and the space station are available on the Web at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/elements/index.html

Some do. But there are several launch sites available for commercial launches in the United States. The two sites used most frequently are Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida (located on the same piece of land from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where the Shuttle launches) and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Both of these are government-owned launch facilities and are also used for non-Shuttle launches of government-owned satellites.

The space shuttle must reach speeds of about 17,500 mph (28,000 kilometers per hour) to remain in orbit. The exact speed depends on the space shuttle's orbital altitude, which normally ranges from 190 miles to 330 miles (304 kilometers to 528 kilometers) above sea level, depending on its mission. Each of the two solid rocket boosters on the space shuttle carries more than one million pounds of solid propellant.

Co-firing" refers to the blending of biomass with coal in the furnace of a conventional coal-fired steam-cycle electric power plant. This is currently one of the simplest ways of utilizing biomass to displace fossil fuels, requiring no new investment or specialized technology. Between 5% and 15% biomass (by heat content) may be used in such facilities at an additional cost estimated at less than 0.5 cents/kWh (compared with coal-firing alone).

alternative that works well for our guests traveling round-trip between Anchorage and Denali National Park, is to take the Alaska Denali Tours shuttle vehicle northbound to the Park, stay at Denali Backcountry Lodge, then return to Anchorage via the Alaska Railroad. At the end of your lodge stay, you will return to the Park Entrance in time to connect with the southbound train to Anchorage, the northbound train to Fairbanks, or one of the shuttle services.

There can be some functionality which cannot be tested in an automated tool so we may have to do it manually. therefore manual testing can never be repleaced. (We can write the scripts for negative testing also but it is hectic task).When we talk about real environment we do negative testing manually.

Since a typical Dyno test generally takes less than a few minutes of full load operation, a flushette which supplies water to both sides is sufficient. For extended running or poor water supply conditions, something as simple as a small cattle watering tank (or even your test tank) can be used to supply engine cooling while operating the Dyno.

Our product line is based on Value. We strive to produce the finest quality remanufactured engines at very reasonable pricesâ?¦usually much lower than most national suppliers. We are also one of the few remanufacturers who hot-run test most of our engines under true operating conditions. As a further sign of value each True Test engine is covered by an industry-leading, 3 Year, Unlimited Mileage Warranty.

The truth is, we didn't. As we complete the assembly of an engine, we add a leak detection dye to the oil. After an engine completes it's dyno test we inspect with black light to check for leaks. Only then is all oil, gas and water drained and the engine packed for shipping. If oil leaks are found, the engine never leaves until they are corrected. The major cause of rear seal leakage stems from poor crankcase ventillation.

It is a very exciting, noisy, shaky ride for the first two minutes. Then the solid rocket boosters drop off and it gets a lot smoother, but there still is a strong push on the back of the astronauts' seats from all the power in the three main engines. Those three main engines burn fuel at an incredible rate -- approximately 3,785 liters (1,000 gallons) every second.

NASA provides a list of future shuttle launch dates. These are, of course, subject to change at short notice. Information on viewing launches or touring the Kennedy Space Center is available from the Center's Public Affairs Office. Tel: 001 (407) 867-6000

Whenever a Space Shuttle is in orbit, the U.S. Space Surveillance Network regularly examines the trajectories of orbital debris to identify possible close encounters. If another object is projected to come within a few kilometers of the Space Shuttle, the Space Shuttle will normally maneuver away from the object if the chance of a collision exceeds 1 in 10,000. This occurs infrequently, about once every year or two.

No. Hubble is not equipped for the task of imaging a moving target. And it is so powerful that to image the entire Moon would require 130 separate exposures. [See what I mean in this Moon photo gallery]

In theory, yes. The shuttle can abort and land before it reaches orbit. But NASA did not suspect there was a problem until after the craft was in orbit and the launch video was reviewed (and then officials determined there was no problem). Once in orbit, returning earlier would likely have yielded the same result, assuming the damage had in fact been done during launch, though it has not been determined for whether the damage, in part or total, occured during launch, in flight, or at re-entry.

The space shuttle orbited Earth 16 times each day. During the 11-day mission, Space Shuttle Endeavour, carrying the SRTM payload, completed 176 orbits of Earth, flying tail forward at 7.5 km/sec (17,000 mph). The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission provides important information for NASA's Earth Sciences Enterprise, which is dedicated to understanding the total Earth system and the effects of human activity on the global environment.

Well there's only 1 left now that hasn't been dismantled or destroyed. In addition the shuttles were never very efficient things to begin with, so there isn't much point. As well as that there's a lot of modification that would be needed to fit it on the US shuttle boosters, the main problem being Buran doesn't have any engines, and the US core boosters engines are on... you guessed it... the shuttle.