| rdfs:comment | - The Space Shuttle program or officially the Space Transportation System (STS) is the current US manned space program administered by NASA. The first flight designated STS-1 launched aboard Columbia on April 12, 1981 and landed April 14, 1981. Six operational oribiters have been built (listed in the order of construction): Enterprise, which was the first space shuttle built that was air-worthy, but not space-worthy, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. In 1986 the program was suspended, as the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after launch, causing loss of orbiter and crew. The mission was widely covered by the media due to the presence of S. Christa McAuliffe, as part of NASA's Teacher in Space program. A faulty O-Ring seal was determined to be the caus
- (STS), is the United States government's former manned launch vehicle and retired from service in 2011. The winged Space Shuttle orbiter is launched vertically, usually carrying five to seven Astronauts (although eight have been carried) and up to 50,000 lb (22 700 kg) of payload into low earth orbit. When its mission is complete, the shuttle can independently move itself out of orbit (by means of making a 180-degree turn and firing its main engines, thus slowing it down) and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. During descent and landing, the orbiter acts as a glider and makes a completely unpowered landing.
- The Space Shuttle program, officially called the Space Transportation System (STS), was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to lb (kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and land like a glider at either the Kennedy Space Center or Edwards Air Force Base.
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| abstract | - The Space Shuttle program, officially called the Space Transportation System (STS), was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to lb (kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and land like a glider at either the Kennedy Space Center or Edwards Air Force Base. The Shuttle is the only winged manned spacecraft to have achieved orbit and land, and the only reusable manned space vehicle that has ever made multiple flights into orbit (the Russian shuttle Buran was very similar and had the same capabilities but made only one unmanned spaceflight before it was cancelled). Its missions involved carrying large payloads to various orbits (including segments to be added to the International Space Station (ISS)), providing crew rotation for the space station, and performing service missions. The orbiter also recovered satellites and other payloads (e.g., from the ISS) from orbit and returned them to Earth, though its use in this capacity was rare. Each vehicle was designed with a projected lifespan of 100 launches, or 10 years' operational life, though original selling points on the shuttles were over 150 launches and over a 15-year operational span with a 'launch per month' expected at the peak of the program, but extensive delays in the development of the International Space Station never created such a peak demand for frequent flights. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972, and was the sole focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. The Shuttle was originally conceived of and presented to the public in 1972 as a 'Space Truck' which would, among other things, be used to build a United States space station in low Earth orbit during the 1980s and then be replaced by a new vehicle by the early 1990s. The stalled plans for a U.S. space station evolved into the International Space Station and was formally initiated in 1983 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, but the ISS suffered from long delays, design changes and cost over-runs and forced the service life of the Space Shuttle to be extended several times until 2011 when it was finally retired — serving twice as long than it was originally designed to do. In 2004, according to the President George W. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration, use of the Space Shuttle was to be focused almost exclusively on completing assembly of the ISS, which was far behind schedule at that point. The first experimental orbiter Enterprise was a high-altitude glider, launched from the back of a specially modified Boeing 747, only for initial atmospheric landing tests (ALT). Enterprise's first test flight was on February 18, 1977, only five years after the Shuttle program was formally initiated; leading to the launch of the first space-worthy shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981 on STS-1. The Space Shuttle program finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011, retiring the final Shuttle in the fleet. The Space Shuttle program formally ended on August 31, 2011. Retirement of the Shuttle ended the era in which all of America's varied space activities were performed by one craft -or even one organization. Functions performed by the Shuttle for 30 years will be done by not one but many different spacecraft currently flying or in advanced development. Secret military missions are being flown by the US Air Force's "highly successful" unmanned mini-space plane, the X-37B}}[citation needed]. By 2012, cargo supply to the International Space Station began to be flown by privately owned commercial craft under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services by SpaceX's successfully tested and partially reusable Dragon spacecraft, followed by Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft in late 2013. Crew service to the ISS will be flown exclusively by the Russian Soyuz while NASA works on the Commercial Crew Development program. For missions beyond low Earth orbit, NASA is building the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft.
- (STS), is the United States government's former manned launch vehicle and retired from service in 2011. The winged Space Shuttle orbiter is launched vertically, usually carrying five to seven Astronauts (although eight have been carried) and up to 50,000 lb (22 700 kg) of payload into low earth orbit. When its mission is complete, the shuttle can independently move itself out of orbit (by means of making a 180-degree turn and firing its main engines, thus slowing it down) and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. During descent and landing, the orbiter acts as a glider and makes a completely unpowered landing. The shuttle is the only winged manned spacecraft to achieve orbit and land, and the only reusable space vehicle that has ever made multiple flights into orbit. Its missions involve carrying large payloads to various orbits (including segments to be added to the International Space Station), providing crew rotation for the International Space Station, and performing service missions. The orbiter can also recover satellites and other payloads from orbit and return them to Earth, but its use in this capacity is rare. However, the shuttle has previously been used to return large payloads from the ISS to Earth, as the Russian Soyuz spacecraft has limited capacity for return payloads. Each vehicle was designed with a projected lifespan of 100 launches, or 10 years' operational life. The program started in the late 1960s and has dominated NASA's manned operations since the mid-1970s. According to the Vision for Space Exploration, use of the space shuttle will be focused on completing assembly of the ISS by 2010, after which it will be retired from service, and eventually replaced by the new Orion spacecraft (now expected to be ready in about 2014).
- The Space Shuttle program or officially the Space Transportation System (STS) is the current US manned space program administered by NASA. The first flight designated STS-1 launched aboard Columbia on April 12, 1981 and landed April 14, 1981. Six operational oribiters have been built (listed in the order of construction): Enterprise, which was the first space shuttle built that was air-worthy, but not space-worthy, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. In 1986 the program was suspended, as the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after launch, causing loss of orbiter and crew. The mission was widely covered by the media due to the presence of S. Christa McAuliffe, as part of NASA's Teacher in Space program. A faulty O-Ring seal was determined to be the cause. In 2003 space shuttles was grounded yet again, as the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart on re-entry over Texas, 15 minutes before landing at Kennedy Space Center. During launch, a piece of foam about the size of a briefcase struck the orbiter at a very fast speed. This caused the thermal protection tiles to fail during re-entry, allowing very hot gases to enter the left wing. The entire crew of seven was lost. The space shuttle is the primary payload carrier to the International Space Station (ISS). It also allows for crew rotation. The shuttle program is expected to end in 2010, allowing NASA to switch to its newest program, Project Constellation, which will return humans to the Moon, and then on to Mars.
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