KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the KSC Visitor Complex, actor and Master of Ceremonies Lance Henriksen (at podium) introduces four newly inducted Space Shuttle astronauts to the audience at their induction ceremony into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. From left center, they are Story Musgrave, Sally K. Ride, Daniel Brandenstein, and Robert "Hoot" Gibson. Also standing, left, is former astronaut James A. Lovell. Conceived by six of the Mercury Program astronauts, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame opened in 1990 to provide a place where space travelers could be remembered for their participation and accomplishments in the U.S. space program. The four new inductees join 48 previously honored astronauts from the ranks of the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, and Space Shuttle programs.
Summary
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the KSC Visitor Complex, actor and Master of Ceremonies Lance Henriksen (at podium) introduces four newly inducted Space Shuttle astronauts to the audience at their induction ceremony into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. From left center, they are Story Musgrave, Sally K. Ride, Daniel Brandenstein, and Robert "Hoot" Gibson. Also standing, left, is former astronaut James A. Lovell. Conceived by six of the Mercury Program astronauts, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame opened in 1990 to provide a place where space travelers could be remembered for their participation and accomplishments in the U.S. space program. The four new inductees join 48 previously honored astronauts from the ranks of the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, and Space Shuttle programs.
The Space Shuttle program 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 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.