ROOM: The Space Journal is one of the leading magazines on space exploration, technology and industry. At ROOM, we share a common goal – promotion of peaceful space exploration for the benefit of humankind, all while bringing you detailed articles on a variety of current topics. Our authors include academics and industry leaders from all over the world, which lets us bring you timely and detailed information about space shuttle pinball.
April 2020
Space Florida - gateway to an interstellar future
...and investing in commercialising aged or under-utilised assets. Facilities that once launched NASA’s Apollo and Space Shuttle missions are now launching commercial rockets. The state’s spaceport system is a living example of ...Processing Facilities (OPF) of NASA that were used to turnaround and process the Space Shuttle after landing for subsequent re-flight to space. Space Florida secured a long-term property agreement for the first of these, OPF ...
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 total...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 small, and the possible responses are complex [19] and beyond this...
June 2022
Military space – how worried should we be?
...more than evident to the expanding population of space trackers, amateurs and enthusiasts. The key moment that military space became public was the space shuttle, whose operational capabilities and features were negotiated ...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 ...
May 2020
Space for Art – The magnificent beauty of spaceflight
... so, and I am so thankful to all of the photographers who are chronicling the magnificent beauty of spaceflight. To me, this picture of the Space Shuttle Discovery’s roll to the launch pad for her final flight is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. With... to and from the ISS together for the past 20 years – over half that time in parallel with Space Shuttle flights, and now our sole means of transport since the...
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...
August 2021
Born to juggle in space
...might witness in a future space bar while sharing a space beer with some space friends. Growing up near the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and in Florida, within view of Space Shuttles leaving the planet, I ...developed an early appreciation for space exploration. In addition to my love of the cosmos, and perhaps related to my...
September 2016
Transforming US space policy
... between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Apollo programme, Space Shuttle launches, the International Space Station; all high profile human exploration programmes carried out by world governments. Many do not realise... that our very way of life depends on space. Space has transformed how we communicate, navigate, produce food and energy, and conduct banking, growing our economy...
