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STS-133 R2 ROBONAUT MEDIA EVENT 2010-4377
STS-132 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
Foale observes Fincke as he works the SSRMS controls in the U.S. Lab during EXP 8 / EXP 9
STS-129 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-129 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-126 Crewmembers in Node 1. NASA public domain image colelction.
STS-106 CMDR. TERRENCE W. WILCUTT BENDS TO PLACE THE STS-106 MIS
STS-124 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-121 Commander Steven Lindsey is helped with his boot during suitup before heading to Launch Pad 39B and the third attempt at liftoff on mission STS-121. The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 is the 115th shuttle flight and the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission, the STS-121 crew will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-06pd1397A
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Ron Diftler, NASA Robonaut project manager, talks to the media about the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, Robonaut (R2). R2 will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission. Although it will initially only participate in operational tests, upgrades could eventually allow the robot to realize its true purpose -- helping spacewalking astronauts with tasks outside the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2010-4377
Summary
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Ron Diftler, NASA Robonaut project manager, talks to the media about the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, Robonaut (R2). R2 will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission. Although it will initially only participate in operational tests, upgrades could eventually allow the robot to realize its true purpose -- helping spacewalking astronauts with tasks outside the space station. 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.