The Insane Engineering of Orbit 

If you missed episode 1: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UcBc0l7IrZU.html

One thing a lot of people get wrong is that the idea that the shuttle was in orbit when it dropped the tank. When the engines shut down the tank and the shuttle were on the same orbital trajectory that intersected the atmosphere. This meant the shuttle had to boost itself at the highest point of its orbit using the OMS to avoiding reentering the atmosphere with the tank.

please do more space-themed engineering! absolutely love this

The final push into orbit is not from the main engines, but from the orbital maneuvering system (OMS). If the orbiter was in orbit at main engine cutoff (MECO) then the jettisoned tank would remain in orbit rather than burning up in the atmosphere.

Absolutely fascinating. I enjoyed how the vid used the story of one interesting and challenging mission to illustrate many of the functions and capabilities of the entire shuttle system-of-systems.

I just presented my Launch Systems final project a few hours ago and I can absolutely tell you that rocket science is on a whole different level. The level of detail that goes into every aspect of these vehicles is just amazing and every single aspect is painstakingly scrutinized to a level the general public has never seen

The Space Shuttle had it's faults, but man what a beautiful iconic machine. When the world came together to make the ISS America came to the table with a combination of an airplane, a school bus, and a pick up truck.

14:50 "as Goddard intended" that was hilarious!

Could you do a video on the insane engineering of the LM? I find this ship so meaningful because it is the only craft ever designed to carry humans to fly only in 0 atmosphere conditions, which is why it looks so weird. I think this is very meaningful to engineering history because the fact that we needed a ship to carry people in 0 atmosphere conditions says a lot about how far we have come as a species. Thank you.

@ 11:25 The Chandra/IUS stack was not the maximum limit for the Shuttle fleet in general, only for OV-102 Columbia, which was 3.6 metric tons heavier than her newer sisters, and it was Columbia that flew that mission since she was the only orbiter at the time that had not been outfitted with an external airlock and therefore was capable of holding the 56 foot (17 meter) stack in her payload bay. As it was, the mission was only possible for Columbia because of the recent introduction of the super lightweight aluminum-lithium external tanks, which shaved off 8,000 lbs (3.6 mt) in mass from the overall Shuttle launch stack and therefore added a roughly equivalent amount to the payload mass to orbit.

"As Goddard intended" Solid gold line

To Infinity and Beyond

The more I learn about the shuttle, the more I'm surprised how well every single part was thought out. They even had covers for the flight sticks! And the capture mechanism on the Canadarm is just 💯

"As Goddard intended." Well-played! : )

I got your subtle joke at 14:50, "As Goddard intended" - well done.

Can’t wait for part 3, these have been so good

Love the job you do and all the details you bring to these videos. I feel like you're the only one on you tube I watch that the quality of the videos has stayed the same and not degraded with commercials. I have joined nebula just to support these videos. Keep up the great videos.

12:58 Seeing the OMS engines’ plumes rendered so beautifully made me happy.

I love these episodes. The space shuttle was what got me into aerospace, and this video taught me a lot about it. I am fortunate to have seen the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center!

Loving this series. Can't wait for the next episode. "How to land the space shuttle... from space" is one of my favourite videos on youtube so i would love to learn more about the engineering behind the landing

This truly deserves a mini series. Your videos are always great to watch, good job.

As a child of the 80s (born 1978) this is the ship I grew up with and got to watch every 6 months or so on TV. Will forever hold a special place in my heart. It was a worthy heavy lift unit albeit a risky one and it's nice to see Starship coming through to pick up where it left off. I can only hope the 2020s will consist of Starship and the most reliable heavy lift we've ever seen.

The Shuttle was truly a feat of engineering. Kudos to the crew involved in telling a great piece of history.

These 2 parts imo are the best ive ever seen on this topic. In depth and technical. You should do one for the ISS or how the SLS builds on the lessons learnt from the shuttle.

14:45 "...allowing any two spacecraft to dock together, as Goddard intended." Thank you for this - it made me burst out laughing in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

The pictures of the three astronauts on an EVA capturing a satellite were always some of my all time favorites. I didn't know anything about the mission at all. I'm glad I got to hear about it in this video.

This is an amazing video. Your best yet. And there have been some really great ones. It's so well produced, so well researched and so well presented. It's one of the best you tube videos I've ever seen. It shows your enthusiasm and knowledge for the subject.

The only launch Ive ever attended, I was 14 and It was the STS-88 launch you mention... I had no idea at the time that it was the first mating of ISS components, but I do recall it feeling like an earthquake in Florida! What a beautiful beast she was!

I'd love to see a series like this for the mercury, Gemini, and apollo rockets too

I enjoy listening to this voice over, being Irish myself, but when focussed, trying to learn, and you hear the word ‘unbiblical’ my brain stalls. Great videos for the holidays, carry on being REAL,

Excellent series. This is the type of content RU-vid SHOULD be promoting.

Dude, very well done! I've actually watched 3 of your videos on the shuttle and they were all thoroughly enjoyable and educational. You actually have quite a gift. Unlike many others on RU-vid your voice and way of delivering are pleasing enjoyable and engaging. Good job(s)! 👍😊

It's amazing to see how much human capable to do

I learned so many new things about the space shuttle Orbiter from this episode, and also about that satellite mission, had no idea it was unplanned to have 3 astronauts on EVA, thats one of my favorite pics of the shuttle program! I wonder when we'll ever see more than 2 NASA astronauts on an EVA ever again, that's such a cool sight to see.

Amazing series so far, and I really enjoy using a mission as the framing structure for the series too, keeps it very grounded (no pun intended)

This is turning into one of my favorite series. Well done and thank you!

Exactly as I’m binge watching your space videos since getting into Kerbal Space Program, this video gets out. Please keep making those they’re amazing !

Not gonna lie i wasnt sure what this video was about from the title, but learning about what goes on in the backround during space shuttle missions is interesting!

This channel constantly keeps me intrigued by all the applications of the engineering world, makes it a lot easy to stay with my studies. Great content!

excellent series! I'm looking forward to part 3 - of all the crazy engineering that went into the Space Shuttle, coming back to earth (without becoming bits of ash floating in the atmostphere) is the most interesting.

In the early shutlle program, someone (I think it was David Brin), proposed not ejecting the main fuel tank until it was in orbit. By putting a hatch on it, you would have a large pressure tight enclosure ready for retrofitting into a space station. By attaching multiple tanks with cables and spinning them, a rotating wheel type station was possible. No idea if it was feasible.

The "as Goddard Intended" pun was hilarious! Another great video! Cheers from Houston!

One of my favorite videos on this channel….in depth mission walkthroughs like this one was one hell of a good idea….

Fabulous video, I can't wait for part 3.

Hey man, big fan. I love how you wrap scientific information in such a way as so the average person can understand it. You're one of my favorite channels man, keep it up. Though I'm wondering where you get the information for the vast amount of topics your channel presents, sometimes on very specific things like the inner workings of a fighter jet or NASA equipment. I always thought information like this wasn't publicly available?

Wonderful series. I'm learning so much about the Shuttle.

Loving this miniseries on the shuttle. Merry Xmas and a Happy New year you n yours, Brian (and team!) 🍻🎊

wow love so much this serie!! Thank you for the great content!!

BEST CHANNEL ON RU-vid! Love the graphics soo much

This is a wonderful documentary series. Thanks for taking the time to do such a great job.

Phenomenal video. Great editing and narration, tying all these systems together with storytelling. One of my favorite videos so far.

This whole video was absolutely beautiful man, great job!

Another awesome installment! The quality and thoroughness your channel has achieved is inspiring!

This is TOO COOL. i learned alot of things i had never heard. Your channel rules!

It's great to hear these stories from Bruce, I didn't know about a lot of this stuff. Thanks

Ever since a child i've always thought how impressive it was to be runway landing a spacecraft! Yes spacex landing boosters and others now is so impressive it looks like sci-fi, it still doesnt take away from the awe that was the space shuttle.

bruuuuuuuh I wish this video was out a month ago 😂 it could have helped me so much for my space engineering introduction class in university, dang. Any chance you might do an episode on the Buran space shuttle? It’s honestly an engineering marvel imo

I love that "as Goddard intended" joke

Love this story. Im glad it was you who covered it.

Thank you for the video. Got to see a space shuttle Endeavour in LA, truly amazing piece of engineering!

I like how the astronaut said: "so I floated up to the flight deck with them" as if it's a common thing humans do (17:02)

13:20 "The missile knows where it is..."

Really interesting episode, thanks. I've never heard this much detail about a mission. Would love more. 👍

Brian, I've been a fan of yours for a long long time, ever since the early days of the video essay, when kaptainkristian and Every Frame A Painting were still regularly creating stuff. I remember thinking "huh, neat, these video essay things I'm enjoying, but with a focus on engineering? With graph paper in the graphic? This is awesome! All that being said, this is one of your best works. The whole part where you explain the mechanics behind, engineering of, and problems solved with that whole satellite operation was AWESOME! All the tangents that came together in such a satisfying way, not to mention the graphics! Never before have I felt I truly understood what was meant by a "soft capture ring", or how those triangle pin capture devices with the ring worked. So thanks for this series, hope to see many more like it!

So awesome that you got to speak with one of the astronauts in person of the space shuttle. This was an exciting story I never heard before!

Thanks for the bit about the landing gear. I really appreciate you not just repeating EXACTLY the same things as every other Shuttle doc I've ever seen. And I've seen many... STS and I are about the same age, and it's not often that I learn something new about it. *(and about it I don't often learn something new)

The amount of on the job adjustments that they had to do, even when they had planned for so much, astounds me. The fact that they got the adjustments done, speaks volumes about human ingenuity and resolve.

Early space exploration really was insane.

I really really love this look at the space shuttle. With all its faults, I still think the space shuttle is the coolest vehicle that humanity has ever built.

Omg I'm really loving this series of videos. Amazing amazing job!!!

Ive read tons of material on the Shuttle and modeled parts of it myself in Blender. And there was still a lot of new things for me in this and the previous video. Ill come back to Nebula for the third :)

This video here is just one amazing example of why to get Nebula. Also, going to the California ScienCenter, Cape Canaveral, and/or Smithsonian Air and Space museums will make this video real. Fantastic work, @realengineering! Amazing.

This was really informative and well narrated, apart from "umbiblicals" 😆

Amazing videos, so much work and well put together. Thank you!

Another absolute banger! Excited to see the next ep! 👍

One of the Greatest Spacevehicles ever! Awesome explained!

What an achievement for those people who worked on it. This is mind boggling. Thanks

Damn. I absolutely loved these two episodes. Just incredible stuff that I can’t get enough off.

I like this clip so much it is very helpful to understand my love space shuttle. This is an insane video.

"As Goddard intended " I see what you did there

Oops! Shuttle animation is missing he vertical stabilizer between seconds :05-:14

Man, what a great video. Has to be 1 of the best videos uve made so far.

I love this yt channel,one of the best out there atm

This is my first time being so early in a Real engineering video lol

23:00 an ion drive cannot bring something theoretically to light speed. I’m sure you meant near light speed or to a significant fraction of light speed.

This is simply astonishing! Barbecue mode is just GENIUS!!!

As someone who took Calc II from Tom Akers at UMR, I really loved this episode!

The real engineering is the explosions we made along the way. Edit: I can now see the confusion. No I am not referring to Challanger or Colombia. I was thinking more like, the hyperbolic fuels and chemistry stuff.

"as Goddard intended"

This is mind bending. Thank you for posting this ❤

One of the most fascinating scene, when the space shuttle prepare for landing without the engines. Truly marvelous

Unbiblicals 😂 love it

*Summary* *Lauch and Initial Operations* - *0:05** Space Shuttle Launch:* The Space Shuttle is launched, with its solid rocket boosters propelling it for the first 2 minutes before they fall back to Earth for reuse. - *0:16** Orbiter's Main Engines:* The orbiter is powered by three main engines using liquid oxygen and hydrogen from the external tank. - *0:27** External Tank Jettison:* After depleting its 700-tonne fuel, the external tank is jettisoned, marking the transition to weightlessness for the astronauts. *Shuttle Capabilities and Systems* - *0:54** Space Shuttle Functions:* The shuttle serves as a mobile laboratory and a space home, equipped for complex space tasks and providing a breathable atmosphere. - *2:19** Hypergolic Fuels:* The orbiter uses hypergolic fuels (nitrogen tetroxide and monomethyl hydrazine), which ignite on contact but are toxic and require special handling. - *2:54** Propellant Storage and Thrust Control:* The fuels are storable and provide reliable, precise thrust control, essential for space maneuvers. - *2:12** Reaction Control System:* The orbiter has a reaction control system with 44 thrusters for precise movements and docking. *In-Orbit Operations and Manual Controls* - *6:49** Manual Landing Gear Deployment:* Due to the risk of cosmic rays affecting computers, the landing gear is deployed manually to prevent accidental deployment in space. - *7:34** Mission Tasks Begin:* Once in orbit, astronauts start their tasks, including rendezvous with satellites and using various windows for observation and reusability. - *10:29** Payload Bay and Life Support:* The shuttle's payload bay carries large spacecraft like the Hubble Telescope, and the temperature control system is vital for life support. *Navigation, Docking, and EVA Preparations* - *12:51** Orbital Maneuvering System:* For major orbital changes, the Orbiter uses a separate system with large rocket nozzles for additional velocity. - *13:33** Navigation and Docking:* The orbiter uses star trackers for precise navigation and an androgynous docking system for universal compatibility with other spacecraft. - *14:11** EVA Preparations:* Astronauts prepare for extravehicular activities (EVA) for missions like satellite repair or construction, using the airlock in the crew cabin. *Space Station Construction and Satellite Capture* - *15:09** Docking System:* The docking system forms an airtight connection between spacecraft, used extensively in the construction of the International Space Station. - *15:17** International Space Station Construction:* The Space Shuttle played a key role in transporting and assembling the International Space Station, starting with the first modules in 1998. - *15:45** EVA for Satellite Capture:* Astronauts performed an EVA (extravehicular activity) to manually capture a stranded satellite using a specially designed capture bar. - *16:00** Challenges in Satellite Capture:* Multiple attempts to capture the satellite were unsuccessful due to it bouncing off the capture bar. - *16:26** Satellite Capture Strategy:* After several failed attempts, a new strategy involving direct manual capture by astronauts was considered. - *17:04** New Capture Plan:* The plan involved astronauts grabbing the satellite with their hands, exploiting the maneuverability and fuel efficiency of the Endeavor. - *17:57** Utilizing EVA Suits:* The mission had three EVA suits onboard, leading to a new idea of sending three astronauts out to capture the satellite. - *19:06** Airlock Capacity Issue:* The airlock was designed for only two people, posing a challenge for three astronauts in EVA suits. - *20:02** Airlock Adjustment:* One astronaut had to use internal controls and be positioned upside down in the airlock to accommodate all three. *Canadarm Operation and Challenges* - *20:38** Canadarm Operation:* Bruce, a former Coast Guard helicopter pilot, operated the Canadarm due to his skill in controlling similar systems. - *21:32** Canadarm's Design and Function:* The Canadarm, weighing just 430 kilograms, could move 30 tonnes in orbit but couldn't support its own weight on Earth. - *22:00** Canadarm's Construction:* The arm had six joints and was made from low-weight materials, capable of precise movements in space. - *23:04** Inertia Challenges in Space:* Despite its capabilities, the Canadarm had to be used delicately to prevent damage from inertia. *Satellite Capture and Shuttle Maintenance* - *23:28** Intelsat Capture Solution:* A capture bar with a grapple point was used to secure the Intelsat satellite for Canadarm's operation. - *24:41** Successful Satellite Capture:* The satellite was successfully secured and equipped with a new second stage, extending its operational life. - *24:47** Additional Mission Objectives:* STS 49 also had to test space shuttle building techniques, with time constraints due to the extended satellite capture operation. - *25:05** Life Support Systems:* The shuttle used high-pressure oxygen and nitrogen tanks to create a breathable atmosphere, with CO2 scrubbed by lithium hydroxide canisters. - *25:43** Shuttle's Power System:* Oxygen and hydrogen tanks fueled a cell that produced water and electricity, with excess hydrogen gas separated and vented. *Re-entry Preparations and Challenges* - *26:11** Payload Door Closure Issue:* The payload doors wouldn't latch due to thermal warping, requiring potential EVA intervention. - *26:58** Solution to Door Warping:* The shuttle underwent a 'barbecue mode' rotation to equalize temperatures and successfully close the doors. - *27:48** Preparing for Re-entry:* Preparations for re-entry involved closing payload doors and firing OMS engines to reduce orbital velocity. - *28:03** Re-entry Process:* The shuttle re-entered the atmosphere at high speeds, creating charged plasma and extreme temperatures. - *28:26** Engineering for Re-entry and Landing:* Innovative engineering combined aerospace and aviation technologies for the shuttle's re-entry and landing. Disclaimer: I pasted the transcript as two separate segments into and GPT4 using ChatGPT Plus on 2023-12-25.

WHAT A GREAT SERIES. THANK YOU!! FOREVER LOVING THE STS

*Umbilicals (not "umbiblicals)

Unbiblicals? Sooo sweet 😂

Very very good video, image quality, the animations, vip interview, and storytelling, I enjoyed, and being very tempted to the Nebula thing... Part 3?

Im certain Brian is aware, but there's a technical mistake at 22:55: a spacecraft with mass can't ever get to lightspeed *no matter* how much fuel it has, theoretically. It can get closer and closer to lightspeed, but never actually reach it.

This video is mistitled.

Flat earth believers please chime in.