How much does it cost to fuel a space shuttle?

According to this NASA fact sheet about the Shuttle and its propellant, the total cost for fuel was: At liftoff, an orbiter and external tank carry 835,958 gallons of the principal liquid propellants – hydrogen, oxygen, hydrazine, monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide – currently costing approximately $1,380,000.

How many miles does a space shuttle go per second?

five miles per second
“The space shuttles on-orbit speed of five miles per second.”

How much fuel does a space shuttle use to get to the moon?

While the amount of fuel varied, depending on the mission, on average it used a total of 4,578,000 pounds (2,076,545 kg) of fuel. It could lift a payload to low Earth orbit weighing 310,000 lb (140,000 kg), and send a payload of 107,100 lb (48,600 kg) to the Moon.

What fuel does shuttle use?

liquid hydrogen
The shuttle’s main engines are fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stored in the external fuel tank (built by Martin Marietta Corp.), which is 27.5 ft (8.4 m) wide and 154 ft (46.2 m) long.

How many gallons of fuel does a space shuttle use?

Their total weight is 1,607,185 pounds. The external tank of the shuttle carries about 384,071 gallons (227,800 pounds) of liquid hydrogen, but about 628,540 gal- lons (372,800 pounds) are used in all during shuttle vehicle loading.

What kind of fuel does the Space Shuttle use?

As the Shuttle accelerates, the main engines burn a half-million gallons of liquid propellant provided by the large, orange external fuel tank. The main engines burn liquid hydrogen — the second coldest liquid on Earth at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 252.8 degrees Celsius) — and liquid oxygen.

How many pounds of thrust does a space shuttle produce?

They create a combined maximum thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds. As the Shuttle accelerates, the main engines burn a half-million gallons of liquid propellant provided by the large, orange external fuel tank.

How fast do space shuttles launch?

After the solid rockets are jettisoned, the main engines provide thrust which accelerates the Shuttle from 4,828 kilometers per hour (3,000 mph) to over 27,358 kilometers per hour (17,000 mph) in just six minutes to reach orbit. They create a combined maximum thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds.

How much fuel does the rocket booster use?

At liftoff, the two Solid Rocket Boosters consume 11,000 pounds of fuel per second. That’s two million times the rate at which fuel is burned by the average family car.