STS-92 Discovery Ferry Flight Leaving Dryden

[Southwestairlines737]

"dnt let us go too soon man" lol......i love that four seven but the shuttle even more!!!!

[bankv13]

strange... all i see is a fly ontop of another....

[mitrathomas]

Well, here goes...

Having a space shuttle mounted on its top, disrupts the airflow quite severely over the B-747. Two design changes have been made to make flight possible.

A 'fairing' has been attached to the rear of the space shuttle -- this reduces 'separation' of flow from the rear of the shuttle, and thus reduces its drag in flight.

Vertical stabilizer boards on the sides of the tail--the vertical tail is in the wake of the shuttle, reducing its effectiveness in stabilizing the airplane.

[ThePholosho]

Doesn't the air become unstable

[Esudao]

@ThePholosho how do you mean that

[ThePholosho]

@Esudao Don't qoute me on this OK.I mean with the extra load on top, doesn't the aerodynamic of the 747 intercontinental change.

[Esudao]

@ThePholosho probably it changes, they have for example attached such "shells" on the side of the spaceshuttle to make it more "fluid" in air.

but i don't know the details, appearently it works ;D

[JBofBrisbane]

@Esudao @ThePhotosho - The part of the shuttle orbiter that generates the most turbulence would be the main engine "bells". For the ferry flights, these are usually covered by an aerodynamic fairing.

[Xonipher]

@ThePholosho Unstable? how so. Air doesn't become unstable, if it did, then the atoms would rip apart creating a "hydrogen bomb".

[WWIIMILITARIA]

@Xonipher

Ummm are you retarded? Stop trying to sound smart when you have no idea what you are talking about. First, Hydrogen bombs are the result of nuclear FUSION not fission (the splitting of atoms). Second, air CAN become unstable resulting in a nuclear chain reaction. Some scientists believed this would happen in the atmosphere after the first atomic bombs were dropped at the end of WWII.

[JBofBrisbane]

@Xonipher @WWIIMILITARIA - I think ThePhotosho was talking about generating a turbulent airflow, not instability on an atomic scale. And that is the first time I have ever heard of nuclear instability in ordinary air. Evidently the fact that it didn't happen in any nuclear or thermonuclear test disproved the above-claimed belief of "some scientists". Methinks WWIIMILITARIA may be the retarded one here, folks.

[ThePholosho]

@JBofBrisbane that's exactly want I meant bro,

[torhagen]

its a shame they didnt develop this further

[nickrock6]

wow i never knew they did that?

[EstoEsLaNASA]

yeah!

[ETBRAIN]

...and then one pilot said to the other! - You're sure you tighten the straps real good?

B-D Lol !!

[ryanman51]

nice