![]() ![]() The Space Shuttle was launched vertically, like a conventional rocket, with the two SRBs operating in parallel with the OV's three main engines, which were fueled from the ET. Shuttle components included the Orbiter Vehicle (OV) with three clustered Rocketdyne RS-25 main engines, a pair of recoverable solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and the expendable external tank (ET) containing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) conducted science experiments in orbit and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station. In addition to the prototype whose completion was cancelled, five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. ![]() National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the U.S. Solid ( Ammonium perchlorate composite propellant)ĥ,250 kN (1,180,000 lbf) total, sea level liftoff US$ 450 million (2011) to 1.5 billion (2011) Ĭhallenger ( launch failure, 7 fatalities),Ĭolumbia ( re-entry failure, 7 fatalities)ġ2,500 kN (2,800,000 lbf) each, sea level liftoff It carried a variety of international science laboratories – such as Spacelab and Spacehab – into orbit, supported Hubble repair missions that allowed scientists to upgrade instruments, deployed Department of Defense payloads to improve national security, carried components of the International Space Station into orbit during construction, and resupplied the operational ISS with spare parts and consumables.Discovery lifts off at the start of STS-120. The shuttle served as a platform for Earth sciences and environmental monitoring, human spaceflight physiology studies, material sciences, and numerous commercial and student science projects. The shuttle was also used to launch several robotic spacecraft to explore the solar system including Galileo to Jupiter, Magellan to Venus, and Ulysses to study the Sun. Among the 179 payloads deployed in space were three of the so-called ―Great Observatories‖ – the Hubble Space Telescope, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. At a cost of approximately $400 million per flight, the shuttle delivered some 3.5 million pounds of cargo mass to orbit. A sixth vehicle was flown in a series of five low-altitude approach and landing tests, but never went into space. Originally known as the Space Transportation System (re-designated the Space Shuttle Program in 1990), a fleet of five orbiters made 135 flights carrying 358 individual crewmembers from 16 countries. The three decades following its inaugural launch in April 1981 were characterized by both triumph and tragedy, but despite two catastrophic accidents the shuttle demonstrated a better safety record than any other existing launch vehicle. As the first reusable spacecraft, it was designed to make space travel routine and allow humans to live and work in space, providing a platform for scientific and commercial opportunities. The shuttle was a marvel of American engineering and the most capable and sophisticated spacecraft ever flown. Approximately 125,000 people viewed Endeavour’s landing. Astronauts attached a new perigee kick motor that later boosted the satellite to its proper orbit. During the course of its mission, crewmembers retrieved the INTELSAT-VI (603) satellite that had been left stranded in an unusable orbit since March 1990. It was the first orbiter to use a drag parachute. The new Space Shuttle Endeavour landed on the main runway, completing its first orbital mission (STS-49). ![]()
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