Here’s a look at NASA’s Space Shuttle Program which ended in 2011 after 135 missions.
Facts:
The space shuttle is the “world’s first reusable spacecraft,” launching like a rocket, orbiting like a spacecraft, and landing like a plane.
Space shuttles could carry satellites, space probes, and other cargo into orbit around Earth on both commercial and non-commercial missions.
The space shuttle system was made up of three components:
– Two solid rocket boosters. They provided 80% of the launch thrust.
– The external tank, which provided fuel to the space shuttle main engines during launch.
– The orbiter. It acted as the crew’s home during the flight.
All of the components were reused except for the external fuel tank. It burned up in the atmosphere after launch.
Crews ranged in size from five to seven people. Over 600 crewmembers flew on shuttle missions.
The space shuttle program sent over 3 million pounds of cargo into space.
The longest any shuttle stayed in orbit was 17.5 days, in November 1996.
The space shuttle was 184 feet long. The orbiter was 122 feet long.
The liftoff weight of the space shuttle was 4.5 million pounds.
There were five orbiters in the shuttle program’s history: Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavour.
The space shuttles Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour were each designed to fly 100 missions, though they flew much fewer than that.
Timeline:
January 5, 1972 – President Richard Nixon announces the intent to develop the first space shuttle for travel into space.
1970s – The orbiter Enterprise is used for tests but never flies in space.
March 24, 1979 – The orbiter Columbia is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center.
April 12, 1981 – Columbia launches.
July 5, 1982 – The orbiter Challenger is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center.
November 9, 1983 – The Discovery is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center.
April 13, 1985 – The Atlantis is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center.
January 28, 1986 – The Challenger explodes minutes after launch due to faulty O-rings in the shuttle’s rocket booster. Flights do not resume for another two years.
February 1, 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia explodes over Texas after a large piece of foam rips off during Columbia’s launch and gouges a hole in the left wing in the shuttle. Atmospheric gases burn the wing during re-entry, and the orbiter is destroyed.
July 26, 2005 – The Discovery is launched.
August 9, 2005 – The Discovery lands safely at Edwards AFB in California.
July 4, 2006 – The Space Shuttle Discovery is successfully launched.
July 17, 2006 – The Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center.
September 9, 2006 – The Atlantis launches successfully. The six astronauts conduct three spacewalks and deliver and install a 35,000-pound addition with giant solar arrays to power the International Space Station.
December 9, 2006 – The Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off, beginning a 12-day mission. The crew of seven continues construction on the International Space Station by rewiring the orbiting laboratory and adding a two-ton segment to its integrated truss structure.
June 8, 2007 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches, carrying a crew of seven astronauts headed for the International Space Station. The crew plans to install a new segment and solar panel on the space station and retrieve astronaut Sunita Williams, who has been at the space station since December.
June 23, 2007 – The Atlantis lands safely at Edwards AFB in California, the first time a shuttle has landed at Edwards since 2005. Aboard Atlantis is Sunita Williams, returning from the International Space Station where she set an endurance record for the longest single spaceflight for a woman (195 days) and the record for most time spent spacewalking by a woman.
August 8, 2007 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour launches successfully from Kennedy Space Center, carrying teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan and six crewmates.
October 23, 2007 – The Space Shuttle Discovery launches. Aboard Discovery is Harmony, an Italian-built live-in compartment that will be attached to the International Space Station. Discovery is under the command of Pamela Melroy, the second woman to lead a space shuttle mission.
November 7, 2007 – The Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center, with Commander Pamela Melroy becoming the second woman to land a space shuttle. Returning with the shuttle is Clayton Anderson, who had been on board the International Space Station since June.
February 7, 2008 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches, carrying the International Space Station’s newest science lab, named Columbia. The Atlantis also drops off French Air Force General Leopold Eyharts, who will replace NASA astronaut Daniel Tani.
March 11, 2008 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour launches from Kennedy Space Center, the first night launch for a shuttle since 2006 and only the second night launch since Columbia disintegrated during re-entry. The shuttle is headed to the ISS, where it will deliver a Canadian-built robot named Dextre and the first part of the Japanese-built Kibo lab. Also on board is astronaut Garrett Reisman, who is replacing Leopold Eyharts.
May 31, 2008 – The Space Shuttle Discovery launches from Kennedy Space Center with the purpose of transporting components for the Japanese Experiment Module lab Kibo, as well as a Japanese Remote Manipulator System to be attached to the ISS. Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman will leave with the Discovery crew and be replaced by Greg Chamtoff.
November 14, 2008 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour launches. The crew of seven will renovate a kitchen and bathroom on the International Space Station and are delivering a new refrigerator.
March 15, 2009 – The Space Shuttle Discovery launches. Discovery is headed to the ISS to deliver the final set of “solar array wings.” With the completed array, the station is expected to be able to provide enough electricity when the crew size is doubled to six in May.
February 24, 2011 – The Space Shuttle Discovery launches from Kennedy Space Center. This is Discovery’s final mission.
March 9, 2011 – The Space Shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center. Discovery has spent 365 days in space during the course of its 39 missions, the first of which was in August 1984. It has orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles.
April 12, 2011 – NASA announces the locations that will host the retired space shuttles:
– Atlantis will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida
– Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles
– Discovery will be displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia
– Enterprise will be displayed at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York
April 29, 2011 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour’s final launch is delayed due to an issue with the shuttle’s heating system. President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords are in attendance.
May 16, 2011 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour launches from Kennedy Space Center on its last mission.
June 1, 2011 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour returns to the Kennedy Space Center after its final mission.
July 8, 2011 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is the space shuttle program’s final mission.
July 21, 2011 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center, marking the end of the space shuttle program.
April 19, 2012 – The Space Shuttle Discovery arrives at its new home, the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
June 6, 2012 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise lands at its new home at New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
September 19, 2012 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour, atop a Boeing 747, leaves Cape Canaveral, Florida on a farewell tour across the southern United States. Two days later it lands at Los Angeles International Airport.
October 12-14, 2012 – The Endeavour is transported approximately 12 miles, at a top speed of 2 mph, from the Los Angeles International Airport, through the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles to the California Science Center. Trees, traffic signs, utility poles and other structures in the path of Endeavour’s wings delay the trip by more than 12 hours.
June 29, 2013 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit opens at the Kennedy Space Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
June 27, 2015 – The “Forever Remembered” display, which features a 12-foot section of fuselage from the Challenger and the flight deck windows from Columbia, opens in the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center.