SPACE.com Image Gallery: STS-114 Crew Completes Dress Rehearsal

STS-114 Crew Completes Dress Rehearsal

Perfect Landing

STS-114 Pilot James Kelly settles into the command seat of a Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) to practice landing the orbiter. The STA is a modified Grumman American Aviation-built Gulfstream II executive jet that was modified to simulate an orbiter’s cockpit, motion and visual cues, and handling qualities. In flight, the STA duplicates the orbiter’s atmospheric descent trajectory from approximately 35,000 feet altitude to landing on a runway. The orbiter differs in at least one major aspect from conventional aircraft; it is unpowered during re-entry and landing so its high-speed glide must be perfectly executed the first time. Click to enlarge.

Image Credit: NASA