Atlantis Rests at Wheel Stop

Space shuttle Atlantis rolled to stop on Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility runway 15, completing its 13-day journey of nearly 5.3 million miles in space. Commander Steve Frick thanked everyone for helping to bring them safely home.

Atlantis touched down at 9:07:10 a.m. EST. Nose gear touch down followed at 9:07:20 a.m.. Wheels stop occurred at 9:08:08 a.m..

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• shuttle
• nasa
• space
• iss
• STS-122
• atlantis
• landing
• land
• astronauts

[Jnagwet]

Excellent landing to conclude an excellent mission. Welcome home Atlantis & Crew.

[sondre12321]

nasa owns!

[MO4B]

pointdexter hahahahah

[olbrajt]

pełen podziw dla astronautów za te wszystkie lądowania! mają tylko jedno podejście, nie mają silników i tym samym najmniejszy błąd może skończyć się tragicznie!

[InfiniteSaviour49]

if i come at a slow speed i woldn't got burn

[imarchello]

true...

[JCwarfighter]

You can bounce off of the atmosphere if you are not at the right angle.

[imarchello]

earths atmosphere doesnt blocks objects, it only burns them up due their high speed

[rudeboyzero]

Maximum landing weight of the Shuttle is about 104 metric tonnes.

So usually it's a little lighter when landing.

Take-off weight of the entire stack (shuttle, boosters and fuel tank) is in the 2000 metric tonnes range.

Compare it to a stone skipping on the water. If you just drop it, it sinks.

But with enough speed it "glides" on the water surface.

The same applies to the Shuttle or even a Jumbo Jet. A 747 glides surprisingly well.

[MarvinSanti]

It's just a physic's principle, as long as the preassure underneath an obhect is greater than the pressure over it, it will glide, the wings are responsible for maintaining that pressure. Obviously you need the propper speed depending on the wight of the object.

[bout435]

hehe you should have told me that before i did it