CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –– The three newest inductees into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame share the stage after receiving their medals. From left are George "Pinky" Nelson, who was one of only six space shuttle astronauts to fly untethered in space using NASA's Manned Maneuvering Unit; William Shepherd, who was commander of the first crew to live aboard the International Space Station; and James Wetherbee, who was commander of the longest-docked shuttle-Mir mission. The ceremony was held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The ceremony took place May 2. More than 20 hall of fame astronauts attended, including Scott Carpenter, Walt Cunningham, Jim Lovell and Bob Crippen. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-2932
Summary
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –– The three newest inductees into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame share the stage after receiving their medals. From left are George "Pinky" Nelson, who was one of only six space shuttle astronauts to fly untethered in space using NASA's Manned Maneuvering Unit; William Shepherd, who was commander of the first crew to live aboard the International Space Station; and James Wetherbee, who was commander of the longest-docked shuttle-Mir mission. The ceremony was held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The ceremony took place May 2. More than 20 hall of fame astronauts attended, including Scott Carpenter, Walt Cunningham, Jim Lovell and Bob Crippen. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
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.