Space shuttle program
Today, I will write a summary about NASA’s Space shuttle program because I think this was a very interesting and fundamental part of NASA’s history. The Space Shuttle program was important as the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by (NASA), after the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Those earlier programs focussed on putting humans in space and on the moon. The space shuttle program was meant to continue to do more research but also create a way of reusing some of the materials used in space programs.
During our time at NASA, I came up close with one of the shuttles and I wanted to share a bit of what I learned.
In the Space Shuttle Atlantis building I learned about the program and how they had five space shuttles: the Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. They also had one test shuttle that was called Enterprise, it never flew in space. It was however still important as Enterprise was used for landing and approach tests.
The objective of the Space Shuttle program was to provide routine and economical access to space, while also enabling the deployment and servicing of satellites, supporting scientific research, and playing a crucial role in the construction of the International Space Station.
The space shuttle program ran from 1981 to 2011. Only three of the five space shuttles remain as two were lost in accidents. NASA lost the Challenger on 28 Jan 1986. It happened 73 seconds after liftoff when the Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean. All seven crew members were killed. After that tragedy NASA grounded the shuttle fleet for 32 months. The second tragedy occurred on 1 Feb 2003 where they lost the Columbia during re-entry over Texas and Louisiana. They sadly lost another seven astronauts in this disaster and shuttle flights were suspended for over two years. The disaster accelerated the decision to retire the space shuttle program in 2011.
It's however not all tragedy, the space shuttle program did have quite a lot of achievements these include reusability and revolution. They were able to reuse some parts of the space shuttle several times through its innovative design as they launched like a rocket and landed like a plane.
The space travel program helped to deploy quite a few satellites, and it helped in scientific research. It hosted the Spacelab missions to conduct microgravity experiments. It also helped build the International Space Station and carried 852 astronauts into orbit. The space shuttle program flew a total of 135 missions.
The Astronaut we met the other day at NASA, Norman Thagard has flown four space shuttle missions. Two on the Challenger, one on the Atlantis and one on the Discovery.
I’m going to give you a brief overview of some of the highlights for each of the shuttles.
Columbia (1981–2003)
Total missions: 28
First shuttle to fly into space.
Carried Spacelab, which was developed by the European Space Agency for scientific research. It transformed the Shuttle into a fully functional orbital science lab, its first mission was in 1983, and it conducted 72 experiments across many areas of science.
Deployed the Chandra X-ray observatory, which is designed to detect X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe, such as black holes and supernovae.
Flew the longest shuttle mission. In November–December of 1996 the shuttle flew for over 17 days.
Tragically lost during the re-entry accident in 2003.
Challenger (1983–1986)
Total Missions: 10
First American woman in space (Sally Ride)
First African American astronaut (Guion Bluford)
First untethered spacewalks using MMU (Manned Manoeuvring Unit) in 1984 by Bruce McCandless II
Carried Spacelab and repaired satellites
Tragically lost during the launch accident in 1986.
These are some remains of the Challenger (left) and Columbia (right) shuttles.
Discovery (1984–2011)
Total Missions: 39 (most of any shuttle)
Deployed the Hubble Space Telescope
Flew John Glenn back to space at age 77
First shuttle to dock with the ISS (International Space Station)
Conducted both “Return to Flight” missions after the Challenger and Columbia disasters
Retired in 2011, now displayed at the Smithsonian
You may recognise John Glenn from my previous blog he is known for being the first American in orbit. He orbited the earth three times in 1962.
Atlantis (1985–2011)
Total Missions: 33
Launched Magellan (Venus) and Galileo (Jupiter) probes
Deployed Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
Flew seven missions to Russian space station Mir
Flew the final shuttle mission in July 2011
Now displayed at Kennedy Space Center
Endeavour (1992–2011)
Total Missions: 25
Built as a replacement for the lost Challenger shuttle.
First mission: captured and redeployed Intelsat VI
First servicing mission for Hubble
Delivered Unity Module to ISS
Installed Canadarm2 and Dextre robotic arms
Final mission: delivered Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to ISS
See you in the next blog for something completely different.
