2 Answers

Damn! There's a technical answer for everything.. LOL.. Good answer AZBeagle! There's no way my feeble brain would've come up with that.. I would've though just like 'Expert'.. Rollover for flight stability..

14 years ago. Rating: 1
Comment this answer Add new comment

Who is the "Expert" that came up with that answer? The shuttle rolls over after rising a certain distance from the launch pad for two reasons: One, it needs to get it's relative speed in relation to the earth's rotation up to approx. 18,000 mph so that it stays in orbit (the earth rotates east to west, the shuttle "flies" west to east to get into orbit. Second, the shuttle rolls over so that the Astronauts are head down to the earth. This is to maintain positive g force on the head, so that the Astronauts can take more g force with positive g's on head versus negative g's.
PS I'm no expert, just an engineer, with an interest in space flight!!

14 years ago. Rating: 1
Comment this answer Add new comment