Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially <a href="/facts/Reusable_launch_system/j0WC10op">reusable</a> <a href="/facts/Low_Earth_orbit/rq1TwayJ">low Earth orbital</a> spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. <a href="/facts/National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Administration/TIMCV0yV">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</a> (NASA) as part of the <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_program/6Ikdvwsw">Space Shuttle program</a>. Its official program name was the <a href="/facts/Space_Transportation_System/1F1esWNk">Space Transportation System</a> (STS), taken from the 1969 plan led by U.S. vice president <a href="/facts/Spiro_Agnew/xCWTD1UH">Spiro Agnew</a> for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.: 163–166 
The first (<a href="/facts/STS-1/DLnJNV3G">STS-1</a>) of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights (<a href="/facts/STS-5/wMRNWxdz">STS-5</a>) beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. They launched from the <a href="/facts/Kennedy_Space_Center/zmwszuPr">Kennedy Space Center</a> (KSC) in <a href="/facts/Florida/cF245A3Q">Florida</a>. Operational missions launched numerous <a href="/facts/Satellite/PTX8c68t">satellites</a>, <a href="/facts/Interplanetary_probe/AeWRBITP">interplanetary probes</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Hubble_Space_Telescope/NQeIf0vw">Hubble Space Telescope</a> (HST), conducted science experiments in orbit, participated in the <a href="/facts/Shuttle%25E2%2580%2593Mir_program/oU65ty8U">Shuttle-Mir program</a> with Russia, and participated in the construction and servicing of the <a href="/facts/International_Space_Station/VNPUBz9m">International Space Station</a> (ISS). The Space Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1,323 days.
Space Shuttle components include the <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_orbiter/pD50Txk9">Orbiter Vehicle</a> (OV) with three clustered <a href="/facts/Rocketdyne/3sGkwgd8">Rocketdyne</a> <a href="/facts/RS-25/vGkj6Vxm">RS-25</a> main engines, a pair of recoverable <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Solid_Rocket_Booster/ETayF0Xh">solid rocket boosters</a> (SRBs), and the expendable <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_external_tank/RApJkcAq">external tank</a> (ET) containing <a href="/facts/Liquid_hydrogen/Vpk3Gb8P">liquid hydrogen</a> and <a href="/facts/Liquid_oxygen/qnI0KDTb">liquid oxygen</a>. The Space Shuttle was <a href="/facts/Takeoff_and_landing/F3fMMCxa">launched vertically</a>, like a conventional rocket, with the two SRBs operating in parallel with the orbiter's three <a href="/facts/RS-25/vGkj6Vxm">main engines</a>, which were fueled from the ET. The SRBs were jettisoned before the vehicle reached orbit, while the main engines continued to operate, and the ET was jettisoned after main engine cutoff and just before <a href="/facts/Orbit_insertion/l8oQMJe4">orbit insertion</a>, which used the orbiter's two <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Orbital_Maneuvering_System/r2fyByAg">Orbital Maneuvering System</a> (OMS) engines. At the conclusion of the mission, the orbiter fired its OMS to deorbit and <a href="/facts/Atmospheric_reentry/p7TMk9sa">reenter the atmosphere</a>. The orbiter was protected during reentry by its <a href="/facts/Thermal_protection_system/1rHI1w6q">thermal protection system</a> tiles, and it <a href="/facts/Rocket_glider/9TWhnCTq">glided</a> as a <a href="/facts/Spaceplane/oMJNJPy7">spaceplane</a> to a runway landing, usually to the <a href="/facts/Shuttle_Landing_Facility/H0gDKXCV">Shuttle Landing Facility</a> at KSC, Florida, or to <a href="/facts/Rogers_Dry_Lake/DIGprrwj">Rogers Dry Lake</a> in <a href="/facts/Edwards_Air_Force_Base/MwAW8n6a">Edwards Air Force Base</a>, California. If the landing occurred at Edwards, the orbiter was flown back to the KSC atop the <a href="/facts/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft/9FA26jED">Shuttle Carrier Aircraft</a> (SCA), a specially modified <a href="/facts/Boeing_747/jHjLqpbr">Boeing 747</a> designed to carry the shuttle above it.
The first orbiter, <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Enterprise/HhtH1PfY">Enterprise</a>, was built in 1976 and used in <a href="/facts/Approach_and_Landing_Tests/ufeYyTMS">Approach and Landing Tests</a> (ALT), but had no orbital capability. Four fully operational orbiters were initially built: <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Columbia/uF51RXWM">Columbia</a>, <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Challenger/K4dGtVCC">Challenger</a>, <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Discovery/MmSTr4G0">Discovery</a>, and <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis/3NQUThEB">Atlantis</a>. Of these, two were lost in mission accidents: <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster/HMBh3T7Q">Challenger in 1986</a> and <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster/gsTyKuLM">Columbia in 2003</a>, with a total of 14 astronauts killed. A fifth operational (and sixth in total) orbiter, <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Endeavour/fcX8nN5Q">Endeavour</a>, was built in 1991 to replace Challenger. The three surviving operational vehicles were retired from service following Atlantis's <a href="/facts/STS-135/K9lMMNWC">final flight</a> on July 21, 2011. The U.S. relied on the Russian <a href="/facts/Soyuz_(spacecraft)/meooRg7U">Soyuz spacecraft</a> to transport astronauts to the ISS from the last Shuttle flight until the launch of the <a href="/facts/Crew_Dragon_Demo-2/0D3BuCxE">Crew Dragon Demo-2</a> mission in May 2020.

Space Shuttle open-in-new

Space Shuttle