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View of the landing of Endeavour at KSC ending the STS-108 mission
This is an artist's concept of an X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator, a subscale protoptye launch vehicle being developed by NASA Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. (Vehicle configuration current as of 10/97) The X-33 is a subscale prototype of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Lockheed Martin has labeled "Venture Star TM." The X-33 program was cancelled in 2001. X-33
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After a 15-day mission to the International Space Station, space shuttle Discovery approaches Runway 33 of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to complete mission STS-120. Main gear touchdown was 1:01:16 p.m. Wheel stop was at 1:02:07 p.m. Mission elapsed time was 15 days, 2 hours, 24 minutes and 2 seconds. During the mission, the STS-120 crew continued the construction of the station with the installation of the Harmony Node 2 module and the relocation of the P6 truss. Photo credit: NASA/Scott Haun, Tom Farrar, Raphael Hernandez KSC-07pp3244
STS-115 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
Space Shuttle Discovery Ready For Demate (201204180006HQ)
200802200002HQ Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-122) Lands
STS-129 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-129 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The orbiter Atlantis is backed out of the Vehicle Assembly Building for transfer back to the Orbiter Processing Facility. Atlantis spent 10 days in the VAB to allow work to be performed in the OPF that can only be accomplished while the bay is empty. Work included annual validation of the bay's cranes, work platforms, lifting mechanisms and jack stands. Work resumes to prepare Atlantis for launch in September 2004 on the first return-to-flight mission, STS-114.
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Space Shuttle Discovery mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier
Space Shuttle Discovery mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier
Space Shuttle Discovery mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier
Space Shuttle Discovery mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier
Space Shuttle Discovery DC Fly-Over (201204170049HQ)
Space Shuttle Discovery Flown Over the U.S. Capitol
Space Shuttle Discovery DC Fly-Over (201204170050HQ)
Space Shuttle Discovery DC Fly-Over
Space Shuttle Discovery DC Fly-Over
Space Shuttle Discovery mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier
Summary
Space Shuttle Discovery mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at Washington Dulles Airport the first orbiter retired from NASA's shuttle fleet
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.