DCSIMG
Skip Navigation

SPACE EXPLORATION | Expanding the boundaries of human understanding

Skip Navigation

Articles

RSS Feed
View All Articles »

Flash Video Player Loading Please Wait...
Prepare for Liftoff!

Since the Space Shuttle Columbia first blasted of in 1981, the U.S. fleet of reusable spacecraft has completed more than 100 missions, carrying astronauts and materiel into space. The shuttle is the primary transport for components used to build the international space station.
View Video Transcript »

On the Record

Quote BeginningWhat we do -- flying down a soda straw for a flight envelope, and this glide half way around the world to a powered-off, dead-stick touch down in the middle of the night at Edwards – there isn't any of this that's easy. End Quote

NASA’s Bill Readdy, August 9, 2005

Photo Gallery

  • Photo gallery introduction image
    Space Shuttle Missions

    Three space shuttle orbiters are now in operation -- Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. The first reusable spacecraft, a shuttle launches like a rocket, maneuvers in Earth's orbit like a spacecraft and lands like an airplane.
View Non-Flash Version »

Meet the Shuttles

The U.S. space shuttle, designed to launch like a rocket but land like a plane, is the workhorse in the partnership to construct the International Space Station. The shuttle fleet has allowed astronauts, in addition to construction duties, to repair orbiting objects and launch other spacecraft. The shuttle was the world’s first “reflyable” spacecraft, and, from first shuttle spaceflight in 1981, NASA’s shuttle program has been the centerpiece of the U.S. space transportation program. The three shuttles that remain in service are scheduled to retire in 2010.

Space Shuttles

  • Shuttle Atlantis

    Atlantis

    Placed in service: April 1985
    Missions flown: 29

    This shuttle is named after a sailing ship that served as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts from 1930 to 1966.

    Mission log: Atlantis lifted off on its maiden voyage on October 3, 1985, on mission 51-J, carrying a classified payload for the Department of Defense. Subsequent missions included STS-34 in October 1989, which launched the Galileo interplanetary probe to Jupiter, and STS-37 in April 1991, which carried the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. In the mid-1990s, Atlantis also flew the first seven missions to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

    Upcoming missions:

    • STS-122, launched February 7, 2008, to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station, expanding the orbital laboratory’s science capabilities.

    • STS-125, scheduled for August 28, 2008, to fly seven astronauts into space for the final servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope.

    Fun fact: Leland Melvin, who made his first spaceflight with the STS-122 mission, planned to be a professional athlete, not an astronaut. He was drafted by the National Football League but hamstring injuries prevented him from playing. After he earned a master's degree in material science engineering, Melvin was hired by NASA’s Langley Center and later applied to the astronaut program.

    Learn more about Atlantis.

    Return to Top
  • Shuttle Endeavour

    Endeavour

    Placed in service: May 1991
    Missions flown: 21

    This shuttle is named after the first ship commanded by 18th-century British explorer James Cook. In 1768, Cook sailed around Tahiti to observe the passage of Venus between the Earth and the sun. During another leg of the journey, Cook discovered New Zealand, surveyed Australia and navigated the Great Barrier Reef.

    Mission log: Endeavour began flight operations in May 1992 with STS-49, a mission to capture and repair the communications satellite Intelsat VI.  The crew of its second mission, STS-47, which launched in September 1992, included the first Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the shuttle, the first African-American woman to fly in space and the first married couple to fly on the same space mission.

    Upcoming missions:

    • STS-126, scheduled for September 18, 2008, to deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the International Space Station.

    Fun fact: The name Endeavour was chosen through a national competition involving elementary and secondary school students.

    Learn more about Endeavour.

    Return to Top
  • Shuttle Discovery

    Discovery

    Placed in service: November 1983
    Missions flown: 34

    This shuttle has a name carried by two famous sailing ships, one used by explorer Henry Hudson in 1610 and 1611 to search for a northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the other by explorer James Cook on a voyage in the 1770s during which he discovered the Hawaiian Islands.  Two British Royal Geographic Society ships that have launched expeditions to the North Pole and the Antarctic also bear the name.

    Mission log: Discovery launched on its first mission, flight 41-D, on August 30, 1984, carrying three communications satellites for deployment. Other Discovery milestones include the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope on mission STS-31 in April 1990, the launching of the Ulysses spacecraft to explore the sun's polar regions in October 1990 on mission STS-41 and the deployment of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) on mission STS-48 in September 1991.

    Next mission: STS-124, scheduled for April 24, 2008, to transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS) to the International Space Station.  This will be the second shuttle mission to deliver components for the Kibo laboratory.

    Fun fact: Discovery carried former U.S. Senator John Glenn to space during STS-95. In 1962, Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. In his 1998 shuttle flight, Glenn, at 77, became the oldest person to experience space flight.

    Learn more about Discovery.

    Return to Top