science

Space Shuttle America

Space Shuttle America is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Space Shuttle America rather than just read about it. In short: Space Shuttle America (also known as Space Shuttle America – The Next Century) was a motion simulator ride at the Six Flags Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois, that opened in 1994. The ride's main feature was a full-scale replica of an American Space Shuttle orbiter.

Key takeaways

Space Shuttle America belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Space Shuttle America to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Space Shuttle America from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Space Shuttle America (also known as Space Shuttle America – The Next Century) was a motion simulator ride at the Six Flags Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois, that opened in 1994. The ride's main feature was a full-scale replica of an American Space Shuttle orbiter. It closed permanently after the 2007 season and was removed on December 5, 2009.

Storyline The storyline of the ride was that riders have boarded a new Space Shuttle called America, which is capable of transporting passengers to the fictional Armstrong City using the LRVM (Lunar Run Velocity Management) Warp. Armstrong City is located a short distance from Tranquility Base, the site of the first crewed Moon landing. Guests entered a building that has a small replica of Launch Control at Cape Canaveral. Several TV screens display fake NASA TV recordings about the shuttle and security cam views of the fictional facility that attendees are supposedly touring. Shortly before boarding, there is a notice about a large meteor that is approaching Earth. In the movie, the shuttle takes off horizontally and the Pas-Com (Passenger Compartment) rises out of the cargo bay so riders can do some orbital sightseeing. The shuttle passes Space Shuttle Destiny, which is doing some cleanup work around the atmosphere. Next the shuttle passes an HBO satellite and Space Station Freedom. The shuttle enters LRVM warp and exits a short distance from the Moon. The shuttle then flies over the Sea of Tranquility and Armstrong City. Shortly before landing at Armstrong, an alert is sent to the shuttle crew ordering them to investigate a meteor danger in the area. The shuttle, not even getting a chance to land, takes off again towards an asteroid belt. America is then hit by an asteroid and is now fighting to survive in the asteroid field. America begins blasting asteroids with its 'particle beam' (laser). The shuttle then spots the meteor and is alerted it is heading on a direct course to Earth. Unable to destroy it from a distance, the shuttle flies through a canyon and a cave and destroys it from the inside. The shuttle, now crippled, heads immediately back towards the LRVM and warps back to Earth. As the shuttle prepares for re-entry, the hydraulics for the Pas-Com malfunction, preventing it from being retracted, but the fault is corrected just in time. The shuttle lands and the ride ends. The script was written by Tim Prokop, who also wrote the scripts for the preshow and post-show. The fictional events take place in 2094. The movie was shown for a short while at Six Flags Over Texas, and was made by DreamQuest Images.

Shuttle Outside the building that houses the queue and the ride itself is a fiberglass mock-up of a Space Shuttle orbiter that has authentic "tiles" used in actual Space Shuttle orbiters. The shuttle was built to the exact scale of the real STS craft, but is neither an official NASA shuttle nor capable of spaceflight.

Other movies The building that shows Space Shuttle America also showed:

Escape from Dino Island in 3D (1999–2001) Stargate SG-3000 (2004–2005) Superstition (Playing during Fright Fest in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007 and maybe before 2001)

Removal

High operating costs and dwindling popularity doomed Space Shuttle America after a thirteen year run. Its final operating season was 2007. For the following time period when the ride was closed, the interior was used as a temporary office/storage by employees. The shuttle and building were finally removed in December 2009. After plans to build a roller coaster on the site were canceled, the park expanded Hurricane Harbor into the area for the 2011 season.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Space Shuttle America

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Space Shuttle America claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Space Shuttle America before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Space Shuttle America ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Space Shuttle America

In research: Space Shuttle America appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Space Shuttle America in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Space Shuttle America is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amusement rides closed in 2007, Amusement rides introduced in 1994, Former amusement attractions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Space Shuttle America outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Space Shuttle America in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Space Shuttle America means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Space Shuttle America out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Space Shuttle America in simple terms?

Why does Space Shuttle America matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Space Shuttle America?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Space Shuttle America.