PASA Shuttle Fleet

The PASA Shuttle Fleet, is a collection of seven, near-identical, reusable space shuttles. The space shuttles are used by the Penguin Aerodynamics and Space Agency as a cheap means of transporting astronauts and payload into Low Earth Orbit.

History
In 2006, the idea of an Antarctic space agency was being tossed around. There was not any technology currently existing to place a penguin (or anything, for that matter) into orbit. Dorkuguese scientists fiddled around with ideas of a rocket and capsule to do just this. In response to the design needs, the scientists and engineers designed and built the Triangle Rocket Family, a series of flexible expendable (not reusable) rockets. The Triangle rockets were enough for the design, and so construction on the space capsule began. PASA was eventually formed, however the capsule design was lagging behind due to difficulties with the design.

In late 2007, the first Triangle rocket launched, sending a satellite into orbit. This was an important step into space exploration for penguin-kind. Now that the rocket had been proved, the capsule was all that was needed. Construction on the capsule was slow and expensive, but was finally achieved. In 2008, the very first penguin was launched into space. However, due to a mishap, the penguin was accidentally deleted in space. Despite the known cause, the capsule was blamed a lot for the incident. Later that year, Kwiksilver was successfully launched into space and returned safely. The scientists wanted a new and safer way for Earth-to-space transportation, and the answer to that was a space shuttle.

Immediately, engineers from Dorkugal began to design and construct the space shuttle. They envisioned a whole fleet of space shuttles, acting as a cheap and safe way into space. A collaborative effort between the Dorkugal Aircraft Corporation, Snowing Aircraft Company and TEWT made the shuttle a reality. Celsius was the first shuttle to be fully constructed, followed by Frozen, Migrator, Farenheit, Heatblast, New Moon and Lightning. The first launch was a test launch to see if the life-support and auto-pilot systems would work. It sucsessfully launched Kwiksilver into space and back after a few orbits in 2008.

Shuttles
The space shuttles are:

Celsius
Celsius is the first space shuttle to be built for PASA. This also makes it the oldest shuttle and it flies missions with old hardware. Nevertheless, it has flown the most missions (4 missions) into space. Celsius is currently being kept in storage until PASA will convert it into an RC flyable shuttle.

Frozen
Frozen has flown into space twice. It was first used to rescue Penghis Khan and the Migrator crew. The royal treasurer was NOT impressed. The second time to destroy an "alien" sattelite. In 2009, the computers and hardware on Frozen were upgraded so that it could be piloted manually from Mission Control.

Migrator
Migrator is a shuttle that was only flown into space once. It was used to fly Penghis Khan into space. The royal treasurer was NOT impressed. However, on its maiden voyage, there was a major failure stranding Migrator in orbit. Migrator was stranded because of a failure of its orbital engines. The engines could not fire and the shuttle could not de-orbit. It is thought that faulty construction work on the shuttle is to blame. The crew were eventually rescued by Frozen. The shuttle is being awaited to de-orbit naturally and hopefully have the right angle for re-entry to be reused and land in the ocean near Gentoo Island. This is highly unlikely and scientists think that the derelict shuttle is "just a very big piece of space junk."

Farenheit
Farenheit has only been launched once. Farenheit has had a total of only 4 days in orbit. During the 4 days, the crew of the shuttle conducted many experiments in anti-gravity. The mission marked the first time that experiments were done in space by penguins.

Heatblast
Heatblast is a shuttle that hasn't been into space. On it's first flight, it exploded at around +120.32 after liftoff when the waffle-shaped paddings holding the solid rocket boosters' jettisoning mechanism together were not present at launch. When the boosters were released, one of them jettisoned incorrectly, striking the large fuel tank at an extreme angle. As fuel leaked out and caught fire, there was a massive explosion, destroying the rockets and the shuttle. Thankfully, the crew survived since they managed to bail out and parachute back into the ocean.

New Moon
New Moon is the replacement shuttle built when Heatblast exploded. New Moon, unlike any of the other shuttles, was built entirely out of spare shuttle parts. This was to decrease costs and building time. New Moon's design was new compared to the other past shuttles, as changes were made in the wake of the Heatblast disaster. New Moon can be piloted via radio-control from Mission Control. It has only been launched once, which was a mission to test the feasibility of non-crewed, RC shuttles.

Lightning
Lightning has only flown once. It was used to launch KingH10 into orbit for a few days. The mission's objective was to conduct experiments in zero-g, which was successfully completed.

Missions flown
TM stands for Test Mission whereas SM stands for Shuttle Mission.


 * TM1: 17/01/08 Sent Kwiksilver into space and back. Also tested out space shuttle hardware and its systems for a day. Used space shuttle Celsius.


 * TM2: 29/02/08 Sent icePhone satellite into space. Tested out space shuttle robotic arm for two days. Used space shuttle Celsius.


 * SM1: 30/03/08 Farenheit was launched for the first time. It conducted antigravity experiments for 4 days.


 * SM2: 01/04/08 Migrator was launched for the first time. It was a joyride for Penghis Khan. Orbital engines failed to return shuttle to Earth. Royal treasurer was NOT impressed.


 * SM3: 20/04/08 Frozen was launched for the first time. It was a mission to rescue Penghis Khan and the MIGRATOR. Penghis khan slapped the controls with a wet fish. Royal treasurer was STILL NOT impressed.


 * SM4: 09/05/08 Celsius was launched for the 3rd time. It placed a satellite (NERD-22) into space for Dorkugal. The mission lasted a week.


 * SM5: 22/07/08 Heatblast was launched for the first time. Heatblast blows up and never reaches orbit. No casualties, thanks to a few oxygen tanks and parachutes.


 * TM3: 16/02/09 New Moon was launched for the first time. The mission tested ground RC satellite dishes. The shuttle's launch, orbit, and re-entry were all guided by high-frequency infrared ground controllers. This unmanned mission lasted for two days.


 * SM6: 02/03/09 Frozen launched on its 2nd mission. Sent an armed satellite into space to destroy an "alien" satellite launched by an unknown and unauthorized space program. (The said satellites were interfering with the Antarctic Teleportation System's and icePhone Communication Netowrk's own satellites.) Frozen was controlled by RC, just like with TM3, and was unmanned. Mission lasted for 3 days


 * SM7: 17/01/10 Sent KingH10 into space and back on Lightning's first mission. In orbit for 5 days.


 * SM8: 5/11/10 Sent Chub 777 into space to conduct experiments and space observations in Celsius. In orbit for 5 days.

Technology
In 2009, after the Heatblast tragedy, PASA began a program to retrofit some (if not, all) shuttles to be controlled via RC. So far, New Moon and Frozen can fly unmanned. They are controlled at Mission Control using a joystick and several computer screens hooked up to cameras on the shuttle. Celsius is in the process of being fitted with new computers for this purpose.

To aid in flying the shuttle, autopilots have been used. Before launch, the astronaut inputs a command into the shuttle computer. Upon starting the countdown, the autopilot goes dormant and prepares to be executed. At T-4 seconds, the autopilot begins to throttle the main engines. At T-0, the solid rocket boosters are ignited and the autopilot spins the rocket and pitches back. At T+120, the boosters separate and the autopilot continues for another 6 minutes. The space shuttle separates from the fuel tank and the autopilot cuts off.

For de-orbit and re-entry, a command is inputted into the computer. At the right time, the shuttle orients itself and fires its orbital engines. After the burn, it turns around and pitches up. The shuttle hits the atmosphere at a speed of 7 km per second and begins to slow down in a bright orange glow created by drag and friction. To help deceleration, the autopilot performs "S-turns" nicknamed "zig-zag twisty things" to PASA. The shuttle slows to a glide and lands on a runway. The autopilot makes a drag chute pop out and engages the brakes before turning off.

Unlike the rumored alien counterpart, the Space Shuttle is fitted with ejector seats. In an event of an inflight emergency during the lift-off phase, the shuttle's roof falls off and the astronauts are ejected. The astronauts are strapped into the seats and wear advanced flight suits attached to oxygen bottles and an emergency bail-out kit. The kit includes a map, a compass, a sleeping bag, a radio transmitter and the parachute. After ejection from the shuttle, astronauts are usually greeted with Mach 1 speeds. To slow down, a smaller pilot chute is ejected that deploys the main parachute. The astronauts then glide down to Earth very slowly.

Trivia

 * The Shuttle Program was one of the most costly projects in the history of the USA.
 * If bail-out should occur inflight, astronauts carry a survival kit in case they land on a deserted island.
 * To allow complete communication during the entire flight, special communication satellites were launched before hand.
 * This also allows the shuttle to be controlled via PASA-RCR (PASA Radio Control Relay) from mission control.
 * ADD SOME!