Nice work on this Phil...you can almost make out that puncture;-)

Good post Phil, I know if I was on board I be happy to feel the wheels touch the ground. :)

Some Shuttle program facts and figures for you....

Many people immediately think of its failings and accidents but in reality the shuttle orbiter is the safest and most reliable space vehicle in history. Since its creation it has delivered millions of pounds of cargo into orbit as well as carrying more than six hundred astronauts into space.

The shuttle that flies today has very little in common from the first launch vehicle. Constant improvements and redesigns are made to increase safety, efficiency and reduce cost. The current orbiters cost 40% less annually to operate than they did twenty years ago. Propulsion technology improvement and weight reductions has seen its payload capacity increase by an extra eight tonnes.

The main engines create a combined maximum thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds. As the Shuttle accelerates, the main engines burn a half-million gallons of liquid propellant provided by the large, orange external fuel tank. The main engines burn liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Contrary to usual howls of outrage from environmentalists, the shuttle orbiter is a pretty green machine. The engines' exhaust is primarily water vapour as the hydrogen and oxygen combine. As they push the Shuttle toward orbit, the engines consume liquid fuel at a rate that would drain an average family swimming pool in less than 25 seconds generating over 37 million horsepower. Their turbines spin almost 13 times as fast as an automobile engine spins when it is running at highway speed.

At launch, it takes just six minutes for the shuttle to accelerate to 17,000mph at which point the engines are operating at around 65% thrust. It continues to orbit the earth at almost 18,000mph during its mission but actually increases its speed to return home, hitting the atmosphere at slightly over 8,000 meters per second – roughly ten times the speed of a rifle bullet.

300,000 gallons of water are sprayed onto the launch pad in just 30 seconds during the launch. This serves two purposes; it acts as sound suppression to stop the echo of the engine ignition from knocking tiles off the orbiter as well as cooling down the superstructure from the immense heat generated by the shuttles engines and booster rockets.

Many critics of the shuttle program dismiss it as an expensive white elephant that has achieved little. In truth, it’s achievements are almost boundless and its costs, relative to other expenditures, are quite modest. Americans spend roughly twenty times NASAs annual budget on fast food a year whilst maccie d’s sales alone are as much as the shuttle programs annual operating costs.

Barring any future incidents, the shuttle is due to retire at the end of the decade ending the era of the reusable spacecraft and making way for more conventional rocketry to return man to the moon and mars.

Ya but...;-)

Is there an inflight movie??

OK, I am duly impressed. My grade school history teacher wants to know where you were when she was trying to teach me history!
So, the space shuttle is fairly green,. now that is impressive. i love how you did the image. you are just good. i didn't know about the water being sprayed at launch although in retrospect, it makes sense. i also liked the fact about draining a swimming pool in 25 seconds. keep these images coming so i can teach my grandchildren about space and tell them "uncle Phil " taught me. !
Thanks for all you do with these images. Already on my desktop. ;=)

That thing looks like it's made out of paper mache, hehe.