How to Land the Space Shuttle... from Space
Bret2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2017–2023
talk · general · evergreen · 2017–2023 on HN
Bret Copeland, in an astronaut costume, gives an energetic talk on how the Space Shuttle landed from orbit, including reentry and the unpowered glide. It includes real-time landing footage with HUD and audio.
HN recommends it as an entertaining, technical illustration of how hard the Shuttle's one-shot dead-stick landing was.
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4 comments from Hacker News
On a related note, I highly, highly recommend this entertaining and technical presentation by Bret Copeland, How to Land the Space Shuttle... From Space: ▶ this video
Here's a cool video of landing the shuttle in real time. The whole landing proceeds unnervingly fast! The actual landing HUD and audio starts at 13:40 ▶ this video
Reminds me of a video I came across last year about about landing the space shuttle and the complexities of it all. ▶ this video
> I don't think the Shuttle landing was particularly problematic. They had a lot of control over the glideslope and lots and lots of runway to work with. I'm sure it's a lot more challenging than the sailplanes I fly, but I wouldn't have any major safety concerns flying on the Shuttle during landing. Well the shuttle is a big heavy glider with little wings. One try, and down from 30,000 feet to ground in 3 minutes. Not problematic, but very special. ▶ this video