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picture of a 747 carrying the Space Shuttle Endeavour taken from the passenger window of a C9 Pathfinder [1280×960] (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by feureau

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[–]jdmason 18 points19 points ago

why so close?

[–]justlookbelow 3 points4 points ago

My first impression as well, but when you consider how freaking huge a 747 is it's probably not as close as you think. I'm sure the smaller plane could easily and safely get out of the way if it needed to.

[–]Javindo 11 points12 points ago

No matter how extensively I study and understand the concepts of lift, aerodynamics and drag, my mind still refuses to fully comprehend or, I suppose, believe that things of this size/weight are able to just gracefully glide through the air. I mean, it's just air holding all this lot up! Absolutely insane, no one 100 years ago would believe us... who knows what we still have yet to discover?!

[–]amaefm 12 points13 points ago

I don't know if I'd call it graceful, more like they pummel their way through the atmosphere with a complete disregard for natural law.

[–]blueb0g 6 points7 points ago

It's pretty graceful once you understand the science :) Fixed wing aircraft don't really "pummel" their way through the air, they use it, glide on top and through it... Like a sailboat, but in the air... Helicopters, on the other hand...

[–]Womec 0 points1 point ago

You asked:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49064028/ns/technology_and_science-space/

[–]iownacat 13 points14 points ago

my god are you shitting me? unbelievable. Check this out guys, that plane hes in flys ahead of the shuttle carrier craft and scouts out weather. Pretty awesome gig. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/pathfinder.html

[–]ThePonyExpress83 5 points6 points ago

You know those videos of people from the early 1900's which ultimately ended in the thing collapsing as they try to fly it? I'd like to think that if the people in those videos saw this picture, they would just say "fuck you." That is a 150,000 lb machine built for going to outer space sitting on top of a 318,000 lb machine, FLYING THROUGH THE AIR EFFORTLESSLY. Can't help but think they'd be just a little jealous...

[–]RJCP 4 points5 points ago

I was on the USS Intrepid last week when I visited NY/the USA and I saw the enterprise up close. My god these are huge, glorious tremendous machines.

[–]ThaDiscoSpider 3 points4 points ago

Finally some REAL Machine Porn!

[–]mrtrent 0 points1 point ago

Never has this subreddit had a more appropriate name.... ;)

[–]cincinnati_designer 3 points4 points ago

WHY ARE THESE PLANES SO CLOSE?

[–]Measton42 7 points8 points ago

He is a passenger in Pathfinder. Not a passenger in a commercial flight. Pathfinder is a plane that scouts the route ahead of the 747 to check for dodgy weather and find the best route to avoid damage to the shuttle.

[–]edh649 2 points3 points ago

I assume that as they are so close they are flying in some sort of formation (maybe the plane the photo is from is some sort of NASA surveillance plane or whatever). If they were not flying in formation, they would be much to close to be flying normally.

[–]orbitalics 0 points1 point ago

PLEASE Answer this man!

[–]randolama 3 points4 points ago

It seems like there is so little holding them together.

[–]MR337 6 points7 points ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shuttle_mounting_point.JPG

[–]randolama 2 points3 points ago

That's awesome. Thanks

[–]thiskittensgotclaws 0 points1 point ago

I watched them put the Enterprise on the Intrepid and it took them, like, hours to attach the crane. But, there were only 4, tiny attachment points. I though for sure they were going to rip off and the shuttle was going to fall in the river.

[–]SHYDAWG79 0 points1 point ago

WTF ? Why are people so freaked out about these plane's being so close ? You act like you've never seen a air and water show

[–]AgentMull 1 point2 points ago

Are you serious? Have you ever seen an airshow with a shuttle transport and another large aircraft flying side by side. These aren't exactly nimble aircraft.

[–]SHYDAWG79 -1 points0 points ago

It's not the size of the craft its the experience of the pilot

[–]bigano 0 points1 point ago

Mankind makes weird machines...

[–]Connor6 1 point2 points ago

Coolest thing I've seen today, wish I could see it in real life!

[–]Bromar_Gaddafi 0 points1 point ago

Do the space shuttles have any defining features that are unique to themselves so you can tell them apart?

[–]MR337 1 point2 points ago

The names on the side up near the cabin, and on the wings. Other than that, they're all pretty much the same components and shape.

[–]Nissan280zx 0 points1 point ago

thats how new planes are made.

[–]citrusphoto5 0 points1 point ago

It melts my friggin mind meat that the plane is able to piggyback a shuttle AT ALL...

[–]encaseme -2 points-1 points ago

Man, the 747 must be so overloaded with that much extra cargo on it. Does anybody know what a typical cargo load (humans + luggage; or mail, etc) is for a fully-loaded 747. I would have to imagine a freaking space shuttle exceeds this by quite a bit (or am I wrong and this thing is just that badass). It looks like it's flying at quite a high angle of attack. Can it carry such a heavy load because the load also has wings that help out somewhat as well?

[–]blueb0g 2 points3 points ago

The angle of attack isn't that high, bear in mind the aircraft is climbing - if the AoA were really high, it'd be stalling! And the 747 (I can't remember whether the NASA one is a -100 or a -200, I'm tempted to say -100 because of the spacing on the upper deck windows) has a max payload (including fuel) of about 200 tons (take away a little bit due to the heavy modifications done to that frame), and the Shuttle Orbiter weighs about 80 tons empty. That leaves 100 ish tons for fuel, well enough to get anywhere you need to in a 747. And yes, the Shuttle will also give the whole contraption a bit of extra lift but not a whole lot, I'd say 90 - 95% of the lift would still be coming from the 747's wings.

[–]MR337 0 points1 point ago

I've heard the Orbiter's described many times as flying bricks, so I'm not sure it's really helping with lift, as much as it's just not being a COMPLETE freeloader on the back. Like it's, minimizing it's dead weight status... but not helping get it all up there at all.

Additionally the 747 is pretty much gutted as far as interior goes, and only a few rows are still intact in the first class area up by the nose (bottom deck) if I recall, for transporting a minimal crew for the transition of the Orbiter onto or off of the 747, and for anyone flying along during those original test flights I believe.

The SCA's have a wiki page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_carrier

Also, just read they're going to scrap SCA1 after it delivers Endeavour to LAX... shame. I think these things should have a place in a museum somewhere as well, at least that one. It's been around since the first Enterprise test flights. /sad-face

[–]blueb0g 0 points1 point ago

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it's a net positive as far as lift goes but it wouldn't be as bad as 80 tons of lead inside the 747. And yeah, it truly is a flying brick - on descent, if you dropped a sack of cement from the vehicle, the Orbiter would reach the ground first.

And yeah, it's basically a BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter) that can carry the Shuttle. Sometimes used to transport other components around as well. A shame it's being scrapped.

[–]MR337 1 point2 points ago

If nothing else, a day or two of public viewing and walk throughs (inside) after the Orbiter is pulled off while it's at LAX would be nice. Or maybe that's just me and my 747 fetish.

[–]encaseme 0 points1 point ago

Excellent information! I am shocked that the max payload is 200 tons! that's enormous.

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