Shuttle Landing Facility

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/shuttle-landing-facility

1. What is the location?
2. What is the primary operational period?
3. How long is the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility?
4. Why did NASA build the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center instead of using Edwards Air Force Base?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the location?Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
2. What is the primary operational period?1977-2011 (for Space Shuttle landings)
3. How long is the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility?The runway is 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide, which is about 4,572 meters long and 91 meters wide.
4. Why did NASA build the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center instead of using Edwards Air Force Base?NASA built it at Kennedy Space Center so the Shuttle could land right there, saving time and money that would have been spent flying the orbiter back from California.

Space Shuttle Orbiter: The reusable winged spacecraft component of the Space Shuttle system, designed for atmospheric re-entry and landing.
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA): A modified Boeing 747 used to transport the Space Shuttle orbiter piggyback.
Unpowered Glide Landing: A landing maneuver where the vehicle relies solely on aerodynamic forces and gravity for descent and deceleration, without engine thrust.
Mate-Demate Device (MDD): A specialized gantry crane system used to lift and position the Space Shuttle orbiter for transport.