STS-117 Space Shuttle Atlantis Flies On The Back Of A 747

[ArcticStarFox]

May the Stars ans Stripes always fly beyond the bounds of Earth.....now and forever!

[145Slap789]

Ironic to see an aircraft that hit's over 16,000 mph when it enters the earths atmosphere to be strapped on the back of an aircraft that can't even break the sound barrier... Great video!

[ww2footage]

shuttle = costly POS

[aircharts]

need very long runway for takeoff

[samgibz]

i wonder how much of the shuttles dynamics effects how the aircraft flies, and does you shuttles controls surfaces move at all to assits the 747???

[Earthlinked]

Absolutely NONE!!! The shuttle is setup to fly straight not up or down - the 747 DOES NOT need nor want any help!!!

[djchestfire]

nor would the surfaces be in the correct positions

[Blackaceftw]

whoa thats a heavy load to carry, lots of pressure on plane and pilot!

[eal1011]

I think both American and PAN am. Because at that time for testing, they use American Airlines Stripes. Very old plane, not used that much and often, so the frame of the plane still very strong.

[CaptainXanax]

I guess they'll be doing this again pretty soon here after landing at Edwards today.

[mbenzsl2000]

most likely it is a 747-100, as thats what american airlines used...

the two NASA 747's were originally operated by American Airlines...back when they had 747's in their fleet. They retired the "jumbo jet" back in the early 80's.

[chevyman5436]

imagine if the 747 fail and every one climbed into the spce shuttle and got saved and the 747 crashed!!!! they would be the luckiest person on the planet!!!!!

[rtenewsontwo]

47???

[tdotjonc]

impossible.

[tdotjonc]

sorry that was in reference to chevyman5436

[chevyman5436]

it was just a joke

[pleasuretrip]

Give it a few months until someone from Hollywood reads that and you might just be getting a knock on your door :-P.

[chevyman5436]

lol

[inmudvayneflames]

i always watch these huge planes take off that way thousands of pounds and just think how is that possible...

[NarrowGaugeGuy]

I actually got to see the carrier with the shuttle flying over my house a few years ago! It took me a few minutes to figure out just what it was. At first I thought it was some kind of private jet with an extra-large tail fin.

[tediek]

Nice Video, unbelievable how long it takes from VR to lift off......

[TexasSlide]

Wow, thats amazing how it stays completely still, even though it probably weighs over a million pounds... That's engenuity for ya.

[Raaaaatib93]

why is it on the back?

[b1cc2]

It's a good way to transport it back to it's primary launch area, in Florida. The space shuttle cannot fly under it's own power. There are places all over the world certified to accept space shuttle landings, and there is only one place for it to land. They land in Florida right next to the launch area most of the time, but the shuttle lands semi-frequently at Edwards AFB (shown here) and has even landed in New mexico.

[jonny4romania]

there mating!

[pilot7893]

I expect this one flies better because it's got 2 sets of wings

[macfan9000]

And what exactly is that implying?

[pilot7893]

More wings means more lift

[macfan9000]

Well no kidding, but what do you mean " This one flies better..." ?

[pf126p]

I imagine the shuttle must be positioned carefully, lest it rip off (nose up) or counteract the lift of the Boeing's wings (nose down). I have a hard time imagining that it aids in performance.

[mbrutus5]

lol. thats fucking hilarious pilot7893! why do u have so many thumbs down dude? I guess its nothing geeks who watch these kinda vids. Im gonna go ahead and give u another thumbs down cuz i like to go with the flow. sorry dude.

[carnage123123123]

they're taking it to Russia

[macfan9000]

Why Russia? They always take it back to kennedy space center if they don't already land there.

[navmanaged]

Wow...loved that 1 degree per second rotation...

[GOJETCRJPILOT]

is this a 747-2 or 747-3?

[hlheavyd]

747-300

[driverblue1]

No its either a 100 or 200, i think 100, plus i've sat in the cockpit of that one and it aint no 300

[Yviron]

3 days of silence....Let's all praise someone

[neilzep]

moron

[neilzep]

this is when I am proud to be American.

[mehdiAbderezai]

sorry to burst your bubble... Most of the engineers working on this puppy didn't go to high school in America. Thats a good thing.

[neilzep]

quiet arab,no one cares what you think.

[mehdiAbderezai]

Haha, I am actually Irish American. You too must have gone to a high school in America.

[neilzep]

liar

[mehdiAbderezai]

???

neilzep. so by your name I should assume that you are an idiot (a safe assumption) or that your from another planet.

[neilzep]

dork

[mehdiAbderezai]

are you really 41?

[neilzep]

allah akbar

[mehdiAbderezai]

true that

[flying8speedistra]

There was a realistic pc simulation that runs on DOS called SHUTTLE. Ahead of its time, underrated and remained one of the best & innovative flight/space sims ever despite that it was underplayed. Huge potential for a revival to spark interest now that we have better graphics tech. It even had a simulated landing after piggy back on 747.

[CaptainMontana1123]

it was a lesson: like a mother shows his child how to walk or something like that. great ride

[Bokbebliksem]

The most awesome piggy-back ride ever!

[redryder89]

like a bird family

mother shows child how to fly

xd

thx4up :)

[lostinseganet]

Hey dads could too...well they could lol.

[synthpilot]

Hmm! Drag coefficient of a tumbleweed? Is this an intentional "angle of incidence" to afford some lift?....interesting, I've not noticed that before. Fire wall the throttle boys!!

[gvicman]

My question is on wht the shuttle was attached to the 747 tht the winds never has effects on it?and moreover has NASA ever tried this tech b4 or was it just an experiments tht comes to function excellently?.Thnx for the video anyways.

[Fidokrab]

The first place you see is Edwards Air Force Base in Mojave, California. I been there a couple times, very neat place.

[geocam2]

Too bad the space shuttle was a sort of technological dead-end. There are a lot of reasons we are going back to capsules on rockets - it is MUCH safer, it actually costs less per launch than the "reusable" shuttle and with modern computers, launching people and payloads seperately and docking them in space is quite easy.

[OAXM202]

If it's so easy, then do it. Go work for NASA and set them straight. Until then, sit back and let the big boys handle it.

[lenarends]

It wasn't necessary to be that snooty ... the Constellation/Orion/Ares rocket system (the new Mars program on the drawing board) will be exactly as geocam2 described.

(See October 2007 Scientific American)

[bstep13]

thats cool i wonder why they can't go all the way to florida why did they have to make a stop along the way.

[webologist]

To refuel - because the shuttle is so heavy if they put enough fuel to reach it's destination then it would be over the MTOW (Maximum Take-Off Weight) so they put a smaller amount of fuel, then re-fuel again along the way.

[lenarends]

Not sure for this mission, but sometimes a thunderstorm is in the way. The shuttle's tiles can be knocked loose by high velocity water droplets ... so they wait out the weather on the ground at another location closer to "home" in Florida. I know they sometimes stop at Columbus AFB in Mississippi.

[jamaq]

this remind me of a baby whale swiming with it's mother

[kimmern123]

Just some trivia: The pilot of the SCA is C. Gordon Fullerton. He was pilot during the landing practices with Enterprise in 1977 along with Fred Haise as CDR (the other Enterprise crew was Joe Engle and Dick Truly who later crewed STS-2), PLT on STS-3 and CDR of STS-51F.

[emjaykanfa]

How do they get the shuttle on top of the 747? especially without damaging it?

[kimmern123]

The orbiter is lifted up by a device known as the Mate/De-mate-device (MDD), the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) taxis underneath it, and the orbiter is lowered and attached to the struts you see in the picture. The attachment points on the orbiter are the same the External Tank uses while the orbiter is attached to it before/during launch.

[aalexxanderr]

Have u got Atlantis Space Shuttle is landing with 747 ?

[vintagemachines]

Great show! I now get to see up close what my family and I witnessed from just accross the lake bed. We camped all night(two nights)on the far side and made a video of the pair flying over us. Check the vintagemachines channel to veiw, if you would like another angle. VM

[Cohengenuity]

amazing it can fly in that configuration. It goes to show that when you feel a little turbulence on a commercial flight, it is only a fraction of the stresses a plane can handle

[Mainyard48]

Awesome sight. That's something I'd love to see in person. Thanks

[wntoply6]

thanks for this video.

i was stationed at edwards during my years in the air force. loved it and the mojave desert. i was station at the 6510 usaf hospital, so i woke up seeing the entire flightline, dry lakes, et al every day.

in addition to the fantastic sight of seeing the shuttle, the vista in your vid was just spectacular. again thanks.