ROOM: The Space magazine is one of the top magazines on space exploration, technology and industry. At ROOM, we share a common dream – promotion of peaceful space exploration for the benefit of humankind, all while bringing you detailed articles on an array of popular topics. Our authors include scientists and industry leaders from all over the world, which lets us bring you the most up-to-date and accurate information about shuttle space plane.
June 2022
Military space – how worried should we be?
...(Warner Brothers, 1983) unmistakeably reflected the US government and media portrayal of early space as ‘peaceful purposes’. The Space Shuttle had its own dedicated west coast military base, Vandenberg Air Force Base. Full ... of Chinese satellites used for military purposes is estimated at 21 percent. The U.S. Space Force has a mini-fleet of two robotic X-37B space planes, which have been flying secret missions since 2010. Only one country has...
February 2019
The Space Elevator – an alternative path to space?
...spectacular launch failures. The rocket equation for chemical rockets results in only a small payload fraction. The space shuttle carried only one train-wagon-equivalent payload to LEO, around 27.5 metric tons (mt), or 1.4 percent of... an exactly periodic orbit and passes the plane of the elevator will eventually hit it. This danger is as real as a speck of paint almost taking out the window of the space shuttle! The risks of debris, large and ...
February 2020
Preserving our space heritage
... of science or engineering, you’ll see old planes, trains, cars, etc, but probably no satellites that have actually flown in space. There are, of course, a few re-entry capsules and a limited cadre of space shuttles, manned vehicles that were deliberately designed...
April 2024
Unlocking the NewSpace economy through space-based solar power
...any point in time, there could be several hundred OTVs shuttling cargo to multiple SPS construction sites. Both in the case of launch and OTVs, and thus space freight in general, single use machinery would be detrimental ... here. This would also create a freight opportunity: in-space scrap collection and space planes to bring back materials. With an asset that can be positioned anywhere in space or around any planet, it becomes possible to not ...
February 2019
Building a space museum from scratch
... of heatshield, materials from a Mercury spacecraft, and several types of thermal protection tiles used in the Space Shuttle programme. For a space-nut like me, it was heaven. The big crate had my heart pounding. It stood nearly as..., materials from a Mercury spacecraft, and several types of thermal protection tiles used in the Space Shuttle programme. However, the big items like the LM descent engine would require a specially constructed case...
July 2020
Lego’s replica space programme
...facsimile of the ISS, measuring about 48 x 30 x 24 cm when complete. It is mounted on a Lego-built stand with a Space Shuttle, capsule and several ‘cargo spacecraft’ that can be docked to the station. Like the real thing, the..., lack-of-saleability reasons). It could, however, be time to consider that icon of human space travel, the Space Shuttle, as it drifts further into the mists of history and rose-tinted recollection. About the author...
February 2021
Space archaeology - preserving our orbital heritage
... flake travelling in excess of 17,500 miles per hour is significant, as shown by craters observed in Space Shuttle windows. Whilst larger assets such as the ISS have Whipple shielding to provide a measure of protection from... Case study One notable space asset within the space heritage discussion is the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Launched in 1988 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, it is clear that the venerable space telescope has a limited future...
March 2022
Space travel and environmental sustainability
...hiatus - since the last private visit to the International Space Station - is now beginning to pick up momentum again. Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity passenger space plane is released from the mothership on 11 July 2021, ...the overblown rhetoric, there is a fair question to be answered: can increasing levels of passenger traffic to space be reconciled with the need to reduce the polluting impact of our civilisation on the fragile environment on which...
January 2023
Original Sin - Power, Technology and War in Outer Space
... were in part deliberate covers for developing essential military space technologies such as more capable missiles, nuclear warheads and spy satellites. The US Space Shuttle was in part originally designed and funded to meet... the Pentagon’s and the Intelligence Community’s needs. The Hubble Space Telescope is an adapted KH-11 spy satellite ...
