Each flight starts at either 10,000 feet, already aligned with the runway, or at up to 50,000 feet, before banking into the heading alignment cone. During descent, the Orbiter is an unpowered glider, so you will only have one chance to get it right. Astronauts used to call it a flying brick: because of its 200,000 lbs. gross weight and low lift over drag ratio, the approach is six times steeper and two times faster than a typical airliner approach. After your first safe touchdown, chase that per...
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