What Space Shuttles are still in service?
This decision left NASA in limbo, as they were suddenly dependent on the Russians for access to space. The remaining three space shuttles, Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis, are now museum pieces, as is the test orbiter Enterprise. Is NASA making a new shuttle?
Which Space Shuttle has had the most flights?
third operational shuttle and made its first flight, STS-41D, in August 1984. Discovery has flown more than any other shuttle with 39 missions under its belt. Discovery’s noteworthy career also includes both Return to Flight missions after
What will be the next Space Shuttle?
Possible next Space Shuttles include the Stratolaunch Black Ice, and Rockwell X-33 derivatives like the Darpa/Boeing XS-1, or an expanded X-37c.
What was the last Space Shuttle mission?
Top NASA officials have unanimously cleared the space shuttle Atlantis for a July 8 launch, the final space shuttle launch in history. Atlantis will fly NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission.
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What is the name of the latest space shuttle?
Orion is NASA's new spacecraft, built to take humans farther into space than they've ever gone before. It will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew and provide a safe return to Earth.
Was Atlantis the last space shuttle?
Atlantis embarked on its 33rd and final mission, also the final mission of a space shuttle, STS-135, on 8 July 2011....Space Shuttle Atlantis.AtlantisFirst flight3–7 October 1985 STS-51-JLast flight8–21 July 2011 STS-135Flights33Flight time7,358 hours17 more rows
What was the last space shuttle to land?
July 21, 2011STS-135 / Land date
Why was Atlantis the last space shuttle?
Atlantis was the fourth shuttle constructed and the last one to fly into space. It performed well in 25 years of service, flying 33 missions that included secret missions for the U.S. military, ferrying astronauts to and from space stations and launching several probes.
Why did NASA stop using space shuttles?
"The bottom line answer is that it was too expensive. Way too expensive," former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory system engineer Mark Adler wrote in 2015. "The shuttle never met its promise for low-cost access to space by virtue of the system's reusability."
Who was the last person to step foot on the moon?
commander Eugene CernanApollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan holds the lower corner of the U.S. flag during the mission's first moonwalk on Dec. 12, 1972. Cernan, the last man on the moon, traced his only child's initials in the dust before climbing the ladder of the lunar module the last time.
Where are the 4 remaining space shuttles?
Retired Space Shuttle LocationsShuttle Atlantis - Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.Shuttle Discovery - Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.Shuttle Endeavour - California Science Center.Shuttle Enterprise - Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
When was the last Space Shuttle used?
The final shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, closing the 30-year Space Shuttle program.
How many space shuttles are left?
6 Space Shuttles were built (although only 5 of them spaceworthy): Challenger, Enterprise, Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis & Endeavour. 4 of them are still around, in various museums.
Will the space shuttle ever fly again?
"And that would probably take about two years to start up." The current condition of the orbiters also makes it unlikely that they'll ever fly again. NASA technicians have been prepping Atlantis and its sister shuttles Discovery and Endeavour for their retirement roles as museum showpieces ever since they touched down.
Where is the Endeavour space shuttle now?
the California Science CenterEndeavour is currently housed in a temporary structure, the Samuel Oschin Pavilion at the California Science Center, located in Exposition Park in South Los Angeles about two miles south of Downtown Los Angeles.
What was NASA last mission?
STS-135The final space shuttle mission, STS-135, the last flight of the orbiter Atlantis, lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on July 8, 2011.
How long was the space shuttle's flight?
The longest orbital flight of the Shuttle was STS-80 at 17 days 15 hours, while the shortest flight was STS-51-L at one minute 13 seconds when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart during launch. The cold morning shrunk the O-Ring on the right Solid Rocket Booster causing the external fuel tank to explode.
When was the Space Shuttle Columbia launched?
Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on 12 April 1981 at Pad 39A for mission STS-1. The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system ...
How many times did the Space Shuttle dock?
The shuttles docked with Russian space station Mir nine times and visited the ISS thirty-seven times. The highest altitude (apogee) achieved by the shuttle was 350 miles (560 km) when servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. The program flew a total of 355 people representing 16 countries, and with 852 total shuttle fliers.
What was the number system used after the Challenger disaster?
After the Challenger disaster, NASA returned to using a sequential numbering system, with the number counting from the beginning of the STS program. Unlike the initial system, however, the numbers were assigned based on the initial mission schedule, and did not always reflect actual launch order.
What is STS in space?
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. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, conducted science experiments in orbit, and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station ...
How many people flew the Kennedy Space Center?
The program flew a total of 355 people representing 16 countries, and with 852 total shuttle fliers. The Kennedy Space Center served as the landing site for 78 missions, while 54 missions landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California and one mission landed at White Sands, New Mexico.
How many orbital flights were there in 1981?
The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. From 1981 to 2011 a total of 135 missions were flown, all launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. During that time period the fleet logged 1,322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds of flight time.
When did Bob Behnken fly to the International Space Station?
He did end up going back, flying alongside SpaceX Demo-2 pilot and fellow NASA astronaut Bob Behnken in May 2020 on the first crewed orbital flight from the U.S. since Atlantis' final launch. The pair spent two months at the International Space Station before returning home.
When did the Atlantis mission start?
The mission on space shuttle Atlantis, called STS-135, launched on July 8, 2011. It was initially planned as a backup flight and not officially authorized in NASA's budget until January 2011, just six months before launch. That tight schedule caused a bit of scrambling for Atlantis' crew of four, not to mention the ground teams, ...
Is the space age changing?
The space age is changing rapidly, not least in terms of the types of people going to space. For example, Virgin Galactic expects to make its fourth crewed suborbital spaceflight on Sunday (July 11), with founder Richard Branson and company personnel on board.
Did Rex Walheim fly on STS-134?
STS-135 mission specialist Rex Walheim had volunteered to be on "any of the last three flights," he recalled in NASA's 10th anniversary event, which was livestreamed on NASA TV. So imagine his disappointment when at first, the 30-year program was slated to end one mission earlier, with STS-134, and he was not named to any flight manifest.
When did the space shuttle end?
NASA’s final space shuttle mission comes to an end. On July 21, 2011, NASA’s space shuttle program completes its final, and 135th, mission, when the shuttle Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Why did NASA retire the shuttles?
NASA retired the shuttles to focus on a deep-space exploration program that could one day send astronauts to asteroids and Mars. READ MORE: Space Exploration: Timeline and Technologies. In January 1972, two-and-a-half years after America put the first man on the moon in July 1969, President Richard Nixon publicly announced ...
How many astronauts died on the Discovery?
All seven astronauts on board perished. Afterward, the shuttle fleet was grounded until July 2005, when Discovery was launched on the program’s 114th mission. By the time Discovery completed its 39th and final mission (the most of any shuttle) in March 2011, it had flown 148 million miles, made 5,830 orbits of Earth and spent 365 days in space.
How many times did the first reusable spacecraft orbit the Earth?
Over the course of the next 54 hours, the two astronauts aboard NASA’s first reusable spacecraft successfully tested all its systems and orbited the Earth 37 times before landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In 1983, a second shuttle, Challenger, was put into service.
How many missions did the Challenger take?
In 1983, a second shuttle, Challenger, was put into service. It flew nine missions before breaking apart shortly after the launch of its 10th mission, on January 28, 1986. All seven crew members were killed, including high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who had won a national contest to be the first U.S. civilian to fly aboard the space shuttle.
Who was the captain of the Atlantis mission?
That mission was commanded by Capt. Mark Kelly, husband of former U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. On July 8, 2011, Atlantis was launched on its 33rd mission. With four crew members aboard, Atlantis flew thousands of pounds of supplies and extra parts to the International Space Station; it was the 37th shuttle flight to make the trip.
Who was the commander of the Space Shuttle?
Upon landing, the flight’s commander, Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson, said, “Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history, and it’s come to a final stop.”.
Overview
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for developm…
Design and development
During the 1950s, the United States Air Force proposed using a reusable piloted glider to perform military operations such as reconnaissance, satellite attack, and air-to-ground weapons employment. In the late 1950s, the Air Force began developing the partially reusable X-20 Dyna-Soar. The Air Force collaborated with NASA on the Dyna-Soar and began training six pilots in June 1961. The ri…
Description
The Space Shuttle was the first operational orbital spacecraft designed for reuse. Each Space Shuttle orbiter was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or ten years of operational life, although this was later extended. At launch, it consisted of the orbiter, which contained the crew and payload, the external tank (ET), and the two solid rocket boosters (SRBs).
Mission profile
The Space Shuttle was prepared for launch primarily in the VAB at the KSC. The SRBs were assembled and attached to the external tank on the MLP. The orbiter vehicle was prepared at the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) and transferred to the VAB, where a crane was used to rotate it to the vertical orientation and mate it to the external tank. Once the entire stack was assembled, the MLP was carr…
Space Shuttle program
The Space Shuttle flew from April 12, 1981, until July 21, 2011. Throughout the program, the Space Shuttle had 135 missions, of which 133 returned safely. Throughout its lifetime, the Space Shuttle was used to conduct scientific research, deploy commercial, military, and scientific payloads, and was involved in the construction and operation of Mir and the ISS. During its tenure, the Spa…
In popular culture
The Space Shuttle, and fictitious variants, have been featured in numerous pop culture references.
• The plot of the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker featured a series of Space Shuttle-like orbiters called Moonraker, one of which was stolen while loaned to the United Kingdom.
• The 1986 film SpaceCamp portrayed Atlantis accidentally launching into space with a group of U.S. Space Camp participants as its crew.
See also
• Buran – Soviet reusable spaceplane
• List of crewed spacecraft
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• Studied Space Shuttle variations and derivatives
External links
• NSTS 1988 Reference manual
• How The Space Shuttle Works
• Orbiter Vehicles
• The Space Shuttle Era: 1981–2011; interactive multimedia on the Space Shuttle orbiters