America's partially reusable crewed launch system, comprising a winged orbiter, an expendable external fuel tank and two recoverable solid rocket boosters. It flew 135 missions between 1981 and 2011, building the International Space Station, deploying the Hubble Space Telescope, and remaining the most complex flying machine built until vehicles like Starship surpassed it in scale.
Facts
Vehicle ClassPartially reusable crewed launch vehicle 2 ManufacturerRockwell International (orbiter), Martin Marietta (external tank), Morton Thiokol (solid rocket boosters) 1 First Flight DateDate of STS-1, Columbia's first flight. StatusRetired in 2011 after STS-135, its final mission; two of five orbiters were lost in the Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003) disasters. 1 Payload to LEO (kg)Approximately 27,500 kg. 1 Status
Status (category) Status (category) Connections
Associated With
Chris Hadfield flew to orbit on the Space Shuttle on missions STS-74 and STS-100.
Source NASA History Office
Eileen Collins flew the Space Shuttle as pilot and later as the first woman to command a Shuttle mission.
Source NASA History Office
Mae Jemison flew to orbit on the Space Shuttle on mission STS-47 in 1992.
Source NASA History Office
Has Vehicle Class
Source Space Shuttle (program)
Mission Of
The launch vehicle system that flew every mission of the Space Shuttle Program.
Source NASA History Office
Operated By
Source NASA History Office
In the Other Atlases
Manufactured By
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Sources
1. NASA History Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administrationhttps://www.nasa.gov/space-shuttle-recordation/orbiter-vehicle/
The orbiter was the heart and brains of the Space Shuttle and served as the crew transport vehicle that carried astronauts to and from space.
- Operated By: NASA
- Mission Of: Space Shuttle Program
- Associated With: Chris Hadfield, NASA History Office: Chris Hadfield
- Associated With: Eileen Collins, NASA History Office: Eileen Collins
- Associated With: Mae Jemison, NASA History Office: Mae Jemison
View the Source 2. Encyclopedia Astronautica
http://astronautix.com/s/shuttle.htmlQuote, http://astronautix.com/s/shuttle.html
The manned reusable space system which was designed to slash the cost of space transport and replace all expendable launch vehicles.
Space Shuttle (program)
In Group: NASA-Developed Launch Systems, Lead sentence
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program.
Has Vehicle Class: Reusable Launch Vehicle, Lead sentence
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S.
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