Similar
Related
Earth observations taken from Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-78 mission
Summary
STS078-736-064 (20 June - 7 July 1996) --- As photographed by the flight crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia in Earth-orbit, the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is seen near the eastern base of Pikes Peak. It was built on a mesa at 6,008 feet (1,831 meters) sea level. Pikes Peak is the large tan patch on the bottom left or west portion of the photo. The city is the headquarters of Pike National Forest, located on its west side. Founded in 1871 as Fountain Colony by General William J. Palmer, builder of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, it was renamed for the nearby Manitou mineral springs. Growth of the area followed the Cripple Creek gold strikes in the 1890s and the promotion of the tourist-health-resort trade in the area. The establishment of military installations gave further impetus to development. The North American Air Defense and Aerospace Defense commands are headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base (Peterson Field). Fort Carson (1942), on the city's southern edge, is the home of the Fourth United States Infantry Division. The United States Air Force Academy (1954), just to the north, is set against a backdrop of the Rampart Range. Its population in 1990 was 281,140.
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.
Tags
Date
Location
Source
Copyright info
