essay on space shuttle in english

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space shuttle

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• National Geographic - Science - Space Shuttle Program
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space shuttle , partially reusable rocket -launched vehicle designed to go into orbit around Earth , to transport people and cargo to and from orbiting spacecraft , and to glide to a runway landing on its return to Earth’s surface that was developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Formally called the Space Transportation System (STS), it lifted off into space for the first time on April 12, 1981, and made 135 flights until the program ended in 2011.

The U.S. space shuttle consisted of three major components: a winged orbiter that carried both crew and cargo; an external tank containing liquid hydrogen (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) for the orbiter’s three main rocket engines; and a pair of large, solid-propellant, strap-on booster rockets. At liftoff the entire system weighed 2 million kilograms (4.4 million pounds) and stood 56 metres (184 feet) high. During launch the boosters and the orbiter’s main engines fired together, producing about 31,000 kilonewtons (7 million pounds) of thrust. The boosters were jettisoned about two minutes after liftoff and were returned to Earth by parachute for reuse. After attaining 99 percent of its orbital velocity , the orbiter had exhausted the propellants in the external tank. It released the tank, which disintegrated on reentering the atmosphere. Although the orbiter lifted off vertically like an expendable rocket launcher, it made an unpowered descent and landing similar to a glider.

The space shuttle could transport satellites and other craft in the orbiter’s cargo bay for deployment in space. It also could rendezvous with orbiting spacecraft to allow astronauts to service, resupply, or board them or to retrieve them for return to Earth. Moreover, the orbiter could serve as a space platform for conducting experiments and making observations of Earth and cosmic objects for as long as about two weeks. On some missions it carried a European-built pressurized facility called Spacelab , in which shuttle crew members conducted biological and physical research in weightless conditions.

Designed to be reflown as many as 100 times, the U.S. space shuttle originally had been expected to reduce the high cost of spaceflight into low Earth orbit . After the system became operational, however, the vehicle’s operating costs and the time needed for refurbishment between flights proved to be significantly higher than early projections. Between 1981 and 1985 a fleet of four orbiters— Columbia (the first to fly in space), Challenger , Discovery , and Atlantis —was put into service.

On January 28, 1986, Challenger , carrying seven astronauts, exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all aboard including a private citizen, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe . The presidential commission appointed to investigate the accident determined that a joint seal in one of the solid rocket boosters had failed as a result of mechanical design problems, which were exacerbated by the unusually cold weather on the morning of the launch. Hot gases leaking from the joint eventually ignited the fuel in the shuttle’s external tank, causing the explosion. After the accident, the shuttle fleet was grounded until September 1988 to allow NASA to correct the design flaws and implement associated administrative changes in the shuttle program. In 1992, Endeavour , a replacement orbiter for the destroyed Challenger , flew its first mission.

Between 1995 and 1998, NASA conducted a series of shuttle missions to the orbiting Russian space station Mir to give the agency experience in station operations in anticipation of the construction of the modular International Space Station (ISS). Beginning in 1998, the shuttle was used extensively to take components of the ISS into orbit for assembly and to ferry astronaut crews and supplies to and from the station.

On February 1, 2003, Columbia broke up catastrophically over north-central Texas at an altitude of about 60 km (40 miles) as it was returning from an orbital mission. All seven crew members died, including Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut to go into space. ( See Columbia disaster .) Once again the shuttle fleet was immediately grounded. The accident investigation board concluded that, during the launch of the shuttle, a piece of insulating foam had torn from the external tank and struck the orbiter’s left wing , weakening its thermal protection ability. When the orbiter later reentered the atmosphere, it was unable to withstand the superheated air, which penetrated the wing and destroyed it, leading to the vehicle’s breakup. As in the analysis of the Challenger disaster, the Columbia accident was seen as the result of both mechanical and organizational causes that needed to be addressed before shuttle flights could resume.

Space shuttle flights resumed on July 26, 2005, with the launch of Discovery . The last space shuttle flight, the 135th, was launched on July 8, 2011. NASA announced that subsequent crewed missions would use the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as well as spacecraft built by American companies. The three remaining orbiters, as well as Enterprise (which did not fly into space but was only used in landing tests in 1977), were placed in museums across the United States . (For additional information on the space shuttle, see space exploration .)

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Toward a history of the space shuttle.

An Annotated Bibliography Part 2, 1992–2011

Compiled by Malinda K. Goodrich, Alice R. Buchalter, and Patrick M. Miller of the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress

This annotated bibliography is a continuation of Toward a History of the Space Shuttle: An Annotated Bibliography , published by NASA in December 1992 . This volume includes key articles, books, hearings, and U.S. government publications published on the Shuttle between 1992 and the end of the Shuttle program in 2011.

The material is arranged according to theme, including: general works, precursors to the Shuttle, the decision to build the Space Shuttle, its design and development, operations, and management of the Space Shuttle program. Other topics covered include: the Challenger and Columbia accidents, as well as the use of the Space Shuttle in building and servicing the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station; science on the Space Shuttle; commercial and military uses of the Space Shuttle; and the Space Shuttle’s role in international relations, including its use in connection with the Soviet Mir space station. This volume also includes juvenile literature on the Shuttle, as well as information about the Shuttle astronauts, memoirs about the Shuttle, and the end of the Space Shuttle program. A glossary of NASA abbreviations is included as well.

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The Inside Story of the First Untethered Spacewalk

On February 7, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless ventured out into space and away from shuttle Challenger using only a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled backpack

Adam Higginbotham

The first space shuttle mission of 1984, the launch of Challenger on the cool, windless morning of Friday, February 3, was apparently perfect—and eagerly trailed by a national press anticipating the first flights of what they called the “Buck Rogers jetpacks.” Formally known as the Manned Maneuvering Unit , the invention was a massive backpack equipped with gas thrusters that would allow astronauts to leave their spacecraft and float free in space for the first time in history. Reporters hoped that the spectacle would approach the theatrics of watching men walk on the moon more than a decade before. But, once in orbit, as the astronauts tackled the initial tasks of their weeklong mission, they experienced a trickle of humiliating failures: First, mission specialist Ronald E. McNair oversaw the launch of the Westar 6 communications satellite, which spun like a top out of the payload bay as planned, but then apparently vanished. Mission Control sheepishly admitted that they had simply lost it somewhere in space. “We can’t find it,” they told the astronauts over the radio link. “It’s not where it’s supposed to be.”

Then an experiment designed to test the shuttle’s facility for orbital rendezvous, using a Mylar balloon inflated with gas, also ended in farce when the balloon launched but promptly exploded; meanwhile, the shuttle toilet—which had always been troublesome—stopped working altogether. After waiting 48 hours to assure themselves that Palapa B-2, the second satellite due for release on the mission, would not suffer a similar fate to Westar 6, Mission Control gave the crew instructions to proceed with launching it. Seconds later, they lost contact with that, too. The total bill for the two mislaid satellites was at least $180 million.

By the time two men—Colonel Robert L. Stewart and Captain Bruce McCandless, one of the veteran astronauts who had signed on to NASA during the Apollo program and waited 18 years for this moment—stepped into the air lock to test the Manned Maneuvering Unit on the fifth day of the mission, NASA was desperate for good publicity.

They were not disappointed. At 7:25 on Tuesday morning, Houston time, McCandless fired the thrusters of his jetpack, rose slowly from Challenger ’s cargo bay and flew clear of the spacecraft. He ran through his flight checklist, touching the joysticks with his fingertips to verify that the pack was working as it should: “Pitch down, pitch up, roll left, roll right,” he began, enunciating each word clearly into his headset microphone. Behind him, the pack trembled and shuddered like a nervous pony as its onboard computers automatically corrected his attitude with tiny whispers of gas from its two dozen nitrogen jets. Despite all his years of training and the bitter cold inside the suit, his palms prickled with sweat; his heart quickened. “It may have been a small step for Neil,” he said, “but it’s a heck of a big leap for me.”

Moving backward at no more than a foot a second, to preserve valuable fuel, McCandless watched as the gulf separating him from Challenger steadily expanded. Inside his suit, it became so cold his teeth began chattering; he switched off the internal cooling unit and continued sailing out into space. He looked for stars but saw only an enveloping darkness. The astronaut held a crude range finder—an aluminum bar etched with marks against which to measure his diminishing view of the shuttle’s cargo bay—to estimate the distance from the orbiter, and make sure he didn’t stray too far. Inside the cabin, McNair stood at the controls of the shuttle’s robot arm, ready to snatch McCandless to safety if necessary, and kept a laser tracker and Challenger ’s TV cameras trained on him, transmitting live pictures to Houston and television stations around the planet. Meanwhile, Stewart remained behind in the payload bay, conducting a separate series of tests.

Still gazing back toward the shuttle, McCandless at last reached his destination and brought the jetpack’s progress to a halt: some 320 feet out in space, 170 miles above the Atlantic—a human satellite in orbit, traveling at 23 times the speed of sound. Yet the astronaut felt no sense of movement until he looked down and saw the planet rotating beneath his feet, a pin-sharp relief map unspooling at four miles per second: “Looks like Florida. It is Florida!” he said, his composure ebbing momentarily as he spotted Cape Canaveral below. “It really is beautiful.”

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space

The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster, based on fascinating in-depth reporting and new archival research.

Looking out from the cockpit, pilot Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson centered the distant figure in the viewfinder of his Hasselblad—but then pulled the camera away from his eye, briefly startled by the power and clarity of the image he had framed. Gibson saw McCandless suspended alone in the abyssal blackness—angled slightly from the vertical, his white suit seeming to glow beneath the unfiltered sunlight of outer space, the luminous blue band of Earth’s atmosphere curving away beneath him. Gibson checked the settings on the camera, and then checked them again; he pointed the lens through the triple-paned cabin window and tilted it to level the horizon. He squeezed the shutter.

Meanwhile, McCandless continued to test the abilities of his experimental flying machine: He sailed back toward Challenger and then drew away once more; he dipped and rose, and turned somersaults. Like the other astronauts before him who had spoken rapturously of walking in space—back in 1965, Ed White had been so reluctant to return to his Gemini capsule that he described doing so as “the saddest moment of my life”—McCandless had hoped, if only for a few moments, to experience the noiseless solitude of being alone in the heavens; but the relentless chatter of the three audio feeds in his headset made it impossible.

The experimental plan had called, too, for the astronaut to orient himself to turn away from the shuttle when he reached the limit of his journey, and face out into the void. McCandless, a grizzled and shaven- headed 46-year-old third-generation Navy officer whose father and grandfather had both been awarded the Medal of Honor, was well acquainted with the limits of fear; as a Naval aviator, he had often landed his Phantom on the pitching deck of a carrier at night, and he believed that he would never do anything more dangerous. Yet, despite his intentions, not once in the entire spacewalk did he turn his back on Challenger , his sole means of returning home.

Almost six hours after their experiment had begun, McCandless and Stewart clambered back inside the spacecraft, sealed the door of the air lock behind them and removed their helmets. Down in Mission Control, the two astronauts’ wives fell into each other’s arms and wept.

Excerpted from Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham. Published by Avid Reader Press / Simon and Schuster. Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.

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Adam Higginbotham | | READ MORE

Adam Higginbotham is a journalist and author. His previous book, Midnight in Chernobyl , was the winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. He lives in New York.

Essay on Space Shuttle

Students are often asked to write an essay on Space Shuttle in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Space Shuttle

The space shuttle.

The Space Shuttle was a spacecraft developed by NASA, the American space agency. It was unique because it was reusable. This means it could travel to space multiple times.

Design and Purpose

Significance.

The Space Shuttle played a crucial role in space exploration. It helped us understand more about space. It also paved the way for future space missions. The Shuttle program ended in 2011, but its impact is still felt today.

250 Words Essay on Space Shuttle

The concept of space shuttles.

Space shuttles are reusable spacecrafts, conceived as a ‘space truck’ to transport crew and cargo to orbiting laboratories or satellites. They represent a significant leap in technology and space exploration, enabling cost-effective and regular access to space.

Design and Operation

Significance in space exploration.

Space shuttles have played a crucial role in space exploration and research. They facilitated the construction of the International Space Station (ISS), carried the Hubble Space Telescope to orbit, and conducted numerous scientific experiments. The shuttles’ reusability and large cargo capacity revolutionized space travel, making it more economical and frequent.

Challenges and Disasters

Despite their successes, space shuttles have also faced significant challenges. The tragic Challenger and Columbia disasters highlighted the risks associated with space travel and led to critical safety enhancements.

Legacy and Future

Although the space shuttle program ended in 2011, it has left a lasting legacy. It paved the way for commercial space travel and contributed to our understanding of space. The future of space exploration, with concepts like SpaceX’s Starship, builds upon the foundations laid by space shuttles.

500 Words Essay on Space Shuttle

Introduction to space shuttles.

A space shuttle represents an extraordinary feat of human engineering, a vessel designed to transport humans and cargo to and from outer space. The concept of a reusable spacecraft, which the space shuttle embodies, has revolutionized our approach to space exploration, significantly reducing costs and expanding opportunities for scientific research.

The Evolution of Space Shuttles

The concept of a reusable spacecraft was first proposed in the 1960s as part of NASA’s long-term vision for space exploration. The first operational space shuttle, Columbia, launched in 1981, marking a significant milestone in space technology. Over the next three decades, four more shuttles joined the fleet: Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. These shuttles collectively completed 135 missions, contributing to various scientific advancements and the construction of the International Space Station (ISS).

Design and Functionality

Contributions to space exploration.

Space shuttles have played a crucial role in advancing our understanding of space. They have facilitated numerous scientific experiments in microgravity, deployed and repaired satellites, and played a pivotal role in the construction and maintenance of the ISS. The Hubble Space Telescope, one of the most significant astronomical observatories, was deployed and serviced by space shuttles.

Challenges and Controversies

Despite their significant contributions, space shuttles have also been associated with tragic incidents. The Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Columbia disaster in 2003 raised serious questions about the safety and viability of the space shuttle program. These incidents led to significant design changes and operational procedures to enhance crew safety.

The Future of Reusable Spacecraft

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What first comes to mind when you think of astronaut training? For most people it is images of prospective candidates performing very strenuous physical workouts to prepare their bodies for the gravity forces they encounter in outer space. However, that is only one part of the training process. The other part consists of learning the technical ins and outs of the spacecraft that the astronauts will crew. In the era of the Space Shuttle from the 1980s to the early 2010s, NASA astronauts would receive numerous information booklets and other written materials which would explain to them how to operate the Space Shuttle. The National Air and Space Museum Archives holds two rich collections related to this intense technical training in the personal papers of Sally K. Ride and David M. Brown , showcasing the difference between the designs of the shuttle in the 1980s and the 2000s.

Sally K. Ride

Official NASA astronaut portrait of Sally K. Ride (NASA Photo: S84-37256).   NASM.2014.0025-bx011-fd010_004

When Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on June 24, 1983, she launched on one of NASA’s first Space Shuttles: Challenger . Yet a few years before her historic flight, she, like the rest of her astronaut peers, had to learn the mechanics of how to operate the newly created Space Shuttle fleet. The Sally K. Ride Papers at the National Air and Space Museum Archives contains the shuttle training materials Ride used, along with her own personal notes. The sample notes from Ride’s training period reveal how studious she was in her preparations.

Sally K. Ride's handwritten notes on operation the Space Shuttle.  This page features "Orbiter Axes and PYR [Pitch, Yaw, Roll] Definitions." NASM.2014.0025-bx008-fd001_001

Sally Ride's handwritten notes on the operation of the Space Shuttle. This page features the "Orbiter Coordinate System" and the "Camera Location and Orientation in the Overhead Window." NASM.2014.0025-bx008-fd001_002

Sally K. Ride's handwritten notes on the Space Shuttle. The page contains drawings and equations to calculate angles for orbital photography.

Besides learning how to operate the Space Shuttle, Ride would also have to be well versed in the specifics of her assigned missions. These would take the form of packets related to the different tasks she and her fellow astronauts would have to perform at different stages of their respective shuttle flights. For Ride’s first Space Shuttle flight, she, and the rest of the STS-7 (Space Transportation System mission 7) crew were assigned to deploy two communication satellites, along with the first Shuttle Pallett Satellite (SPAS-1); perform experiments in the shuttle cargo bay and do testing on the tracking and data relay satellites (TDRS) . Sally Ride’s main job was operating the robotic arm, Canadarm 1 , to retrieve SPAS-1. The Sally K. Ride Papers contain items from both of Ride’s shuttle flights, including the Ascent Pocket Checklist (STS-7 ) and Entry Checklist (STS-41G ).

David M. Brown

Official NASA astronaut portrait of David M. Brown (NASA Photo: JSC2002-00544).  NASM.2006.0013-bx027-fd009_001

When David M. Brown became an astronaut in 1996, training for Space Shuttle missions had become a different beast altogether. For one, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 had greatly affected the work culture of NASA, with an emphasis on always acknowledging that space travel is difficult. The remaining ships in the Space Shuttle fleet were redesigned to have additional mechanisms, including an escape hatch for the crew if a situation like Challenger happened again. Among the numerous manuals and handbooks is a document relating to this new design feature: Flight Procedures Handbook, Ascent/Aborts (OI-25), [ Folder 1 ] and [ Folder 2 ].

David M. Brown's copy of  Flight Procedure Handbook , Ascents/Aborts (OI-25), Flight Design and Dynamics Trajectory Operations Branch, Revision D, March 1996.  NASM.2006.0013-bx012-fd009_002

As he was assigned the position of Mission Specialist 1 for STS-107 ( Columbia ), David Brown also had to know about the various tasks he would have to perform. These included being knowledgeable about SPACEHAB Double Research Module , which STS-107 was being used for SPACEHAB’s inaugural flight to conduct scientific research. Among the numerous manuals that David Brown had to read to operate SPACEHAB were a Basic Operations Checklist and an Experiment Operations Checklist Supplement .

Despite this new component of the Shuttle’s abort mechanism, Brown’s training was not much different than Sally Ride’s. The main difference between the two astronauts was the abundance of training materials that Brown had to read to traverse outer space with an established space shuttle fleet. Both the Sally K. Ride Papers and the David M. Brown Papers contain an insightful window into how NASA astronauts were heavily invested in studying the technical aspects of the Space Shuttle.

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The Space Shuttle Program and the Challenger Disaster

Written by: steven hayward, university of california, berkeley, by the end of this section, you will:.

• Explain the causes and effects of economic and technological change over time

Suggested Sequencing

Use this narrative after students have read the introductory essay to introduce domestic milestones during Reagan’s presidency. This narrative can be used with the Ronald Reagan and Supply-Side Economics Narrative; the Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on the Challenger Disaster, January 28, 1986 Primary Source; and the Herblock, Cartoons of Ronald Reagan, 1984-1987 Primary Source.

The space shuttle program of the 1970s was the successor to the manned space flight program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which had achieved its ambitious goal of landing an American on the moon by the end of the 1960s. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, stepping stones to the moon landing in July 1969, had proceeded on an accelerated schedule to reach the target President Kennedy had set in 1961. They were carried out against the geopolitical backdrop of the rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union for preeminence in space exploration.

The manned space flight program was a high-risk venture, rapidly developing and deploying new technologies. Although there were several perilous moments in the moon landing effort, there had been only one serious accident, when three astronauts were killed during a launchpad test for the first Apollo mission in 1967.

One defect of the moon-landing program was that it was extremely expensive, owing in part to its single-use launch rockets and capsules. The government was willing to lavish the necessary funds on NASA while the “space race” was at its height, but when public interest waned following the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969, Congress began steadily reducing NASA’s funding. Future manned space efforts would need to be accomplished more cheaply, preferably with reusable spacecrafts. NASA proposed the space shuttle as the successor to Apollo in 1969, though the program was not formally adopted and announced to the public until 1972, a few months before the final manned landing on the moon via Apollo 17.

In one respect, the shuttle program represented a scaling back of America’s space exploration ambitions. After the successful moon landing, it was assumed a mission to Mars would follow, but the cost and technical difficulties were so high that a low Earth orbiter with practical uses, such as carrying heavier satellite payloads and helping to build an orbital space station, seemed more practical.

The idea of a reusable “space plane” traces back to the late 1950s and early 1960s, although some visionary aircraft designers were speculating about the potential for such a vehicle as far back as the 1930s. NASA’s original design called for a fully reusable, two-stage system with a piloted launch vehicle- a large hypersonic aircraft – and the shuttle itself, which would fly into space from high altitude while the boost aircraft was piloted back to earth and landed like a conventional airplane.

A 1969 sketch of one of the initial designs for the space shuttle, which sat atop boost aircraft.

This design concept had numerous benefits, including much lower launch stress. But the piloted two-vehicle design proved too expensive and technically challenging, and NASA opted for a conventional boost-rocket design, with the shuttle sent aloft by two reusable solid-fuel boosters for initial liftoff and a large liquid-fuel tank for achieving orbit.

Although the first prototype shuttle was manufactured in 1976, the first spaceflight did not take place until April 1981. One of the shuttle’s biggest vulnerabilities was the heat shielding necessary to survive the high temperatures of re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere. Special heat-absorbing carbon tiles designed for the underbelly of the shuttle proved difficult to attach, which delayed the space worthiness of the craft for several years. A total of five shuttles ultimately were built, and NASA originally hoped they would make as many as 50 flights a year, but even a more modest goal of 12 proved impossible to achieve when the cost per launch rose to more than three times initial estimates.

The space shuttle was a success in terms of its large payload capacity and versatility. In 135 total missions over 30 years, the shuttle fleet placed in orbit numerous advanced satellites and telescopes, such as the Hubble telescope, that were too heavy or bulky to be orbited by conventional rockets. The shuttle was also used for making satellite repairs, developing new space-walk techniques and equipment, and, in one case, retrieving a satellite, bringing it back to earth for repair, and then re-orbiting it on a future mission. The shuttle also played the key role in building the International Space Station and served as an orbital laboratory for numerous scientific missions. The final shuttle flew in 2011, 30 years after the first flight.

The ability of the space shuttle to accommodate a crew of up to eight (compared with three on the Apollo missions) allowed for a wider range of scientific specialists on missions. It also opened the opportunity for limited civilian participation. NASA’s “teacher in space” mission selected high school social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire to be the first non-NASA astronaut and fly on the shuttle’s twenty-fifth mission in January 1986 aboard the Challenger . The flight was delayed numerous times on account of technical glitches and weather anomalies, but it finally launched on the morning of January 28. A little more than a minute after liftoff, a leak from the solid-fuel booster ignited the main fuel tank, resulting in a catastrophic explosion that destroyed the shuttle and killed the crew.

The 1986 Challenger disaster was witnessed live on TV by millions of Americans, making it one of the most traumatic events of the past few decades in the United States.

A subsequent investigation highlighted a known design weakness in the solid-fuel boosters that increased launch risk in cold weather, and the morning of January 28 at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center had brought a hard frost that left visible icicles on the shuttle. But NASA officials overruled recommendations to delay the launch again. The Challenger disaster grounded the craft for more than two years while the solid-fuel boosters were redesigned.

The Challenger disaster was the first time America lost astronauts in flight (the 1967 Apollo 1 fire happened on the ground during a test), and McAuliffe’s presence had meant a larger-than-usual live viewing audience (almost one-fifth of the public by one estimate). Many schoolchildren were among the viewers. Ranking alongside the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the 9/11 attacks as a national trauma, the accident caused President Ronald Reagan to postpone his annual State of the Union speech, which had been scheduled for that evening. Instead, he went on television at 5 p.m. to memorialize the lost astronauts in a speech of only 648 words that is recalled as one of his greatest. He said in part:

“I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them. . . We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God”.

The official photograph of the Challenger flight crew, taken in 1986. Christa McAuliffe is second from the left, back row.

The space shuttle experienced one more catastrophic accident in 2003, when the Columbia , on its twenty-eighth mission, suffered the failure of its heat-resistant tiles and burned up on re-entry, killing seven astronauts. Space shuttles were again grounded for two years while an investigation took place and modifications were made to prevent a similar failure from occurring again. In 2007, schoolteacher Barbara Morgan, who had been Christa McAuliffe’s backup in 1986, flew on the 118th shuttle mission, fulfilling NASA’s original plan to include a civilian educator in the program.

By the time of the last space shuttle mission in 2011, the shuttle had flown for twice as long as originally planned, in part because NASA never carried out its intention to design a successor reusable spacecraft to go into service in the late 1990s. Since 2011, most manned space launches have been conducted by the Russian space program, which works in concert with NASA to bring astronauts from the United States and other nations to the International Space Station. In the near future, it is likely that they will increasingly be launched by private companies seeking to commercialize opportunities for space flight.

Review Questions

1. After landing a human on the moon in 1969, NASA had to contend with

• a loss of interest in funding space exploration
• competition from privately funded space ventures
• a surge in public support for space travel
• the choice between focusing on a Mars mission or a space station on the moon

2. After the successful moon landings, NASA shifted its primary focus to the development of

• a moon colony
• an international space station in Mars orbit
• reusable spacecraft
• replacement of earth-based telescopes

3. NASA focused its attention on reusable spacecraft in part because

• the Soviet Union had developed this technology first
• public interest in moon landings increased after the success of Apollo 11
• single-use launch rockets and capsules were extremely expensive
• President Kennedy set this target for the space program in 1961

4. One of the biggest challenges in the development of a reusable space shuttle was

• training astronauts to fly the spacecraft
• developing heat shielding capable of surviving re-entry to Earth
• choosing a reliable launch site
• engineering a rocket design to boost the vehicle into orbit

5. NASA’s Challenger space shuttle mission best illustrated

• the dangers inherent in space flight
• the advantages of U.S. spacecraft over their Soviet counterparts
• the superiority of private companies in completing space travel
• the role of space exploration in the post-Cold War era

Free Response Questions

• Explain why NASA chose to prioritize the development of reusable spacecraft in the 1970s.

AP Practice Questions

“The decision by the President is a historic step in the nation’s space program – it will change the nature of what man can do in space. By the end of this decade the nation will have the means of getting men and equipment to and from space routinely, on a moment’s notice if necessary, and at a small fraction of today’s cost. This will be done within the framework of a useful total space program of science, exploration, and applications at approximately the present overall level of the space budget. . . . There are four main reasons why the Space Shuttle is important and is the right step in manned space flight and the US space program. The Shuttle is the only meaningful new manned space program which can be accomplished on a modest budget; It is needed to make space operations less complex and less costly; It is needed to do useful things, and It will encourage greater international participation in space flight. On the basis of today’s decision, NASA will proceed as follows.”

Statement by Dr. Fletcher, NASA Administrator under President Nixon. January 5, 1972

1. This excerpt most directly reflected a growing belief that

• the nation was shifting its spending priorities
• evangelical Christianity was on the rise
• the culture wars would lead to the end of space flight
• the War on Terror diverted monies from other areas

2. This excerpt was most directly shaped by the economics associated with

• the end of the Cold War
• the Vietnam War
• the creation of the internet
• the increase of service-sector jobs

3. The sentiments expressed in the excerpt contributed to which of the following?

• The end of the space program in the United States
• International space ventures
• Decline in public trust in government
• An end to fossil-fuel dependency

Primary Sources

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “Space Shuttle Era Facts.” https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/566250main_SHUTTLE%20ERA%20FACTS_040412.pdf

Suggested Resources

Bizony, Piers. The Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA’s First “Space Plane.” Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press, 2015.

Harland, David M. The Story of the Space Shuttle. Chicester, UK: Springer-Praxis, 2004.

Murray, Charles, and Catherine Bly Cox. Apollo: The Race to the Moon . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.

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In our resource history is presented through a series of narratives, primary sources, and point-counterpoint debates that invites students to participate in the ongoing conversation about the American experiment.

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Challenger Explosion

By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 15, 2024 | Original: February 15, 2010

The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecraft’s 10th mission. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who would have been the first civilian in space. It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, which had been designed to seal the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch. The tragedy and its aftermath received extensive media coverage and prompted NASA to temporarily suspend all shuttle missions.

Space Shuttle Program

In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the world’s first reusable manned spacecraft, known as the space shuttle.

Five years later, flights began when the space shuttle Columbia embarked on a 54-hour mission. Launched by two solid-rocket boosters and its main engines, the aircraft-like shuttle entered into orbit around Earth.

When the mission was completed, the shuttle fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the atmosphere, landed like a glider. Early shuttles took satellite equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments.

Did you know? After "Teacher in Space" Christa McAuliffe was killed during the 1986 Challenger disaster, her backup, a former math teacher named Barbara Morgan, served as a mission specialist during a 2007 flight of the shuttle Endeavor.

Challenger, NASA’s second space shuttle to enter service, embarked on its maiden voyage on April 4, 1983, and made a total of nine voyages prior to 1986.

That year, it was scheduled to launch on January 22 carrying a seven-member crew that included Christa McAuliffe , a 37-year-old high school social studies instructor from New Hampshire who had earned a spot on the mission through NASA’s Teacher in Space Program. After undergoing months of training, she was set to become the first ordinary American citizen to travel into space.

Big Bird Nearly Rode on the Disastrous Challenger Mission

Caroll Spinney—the puppeteer in the yellow suit—was in talks to go to space.

How the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Unfolded

Seventy three seconds after takeoff, the Space Shuttle Challenger encounters unexpected—and catastrophic—disaster.

Christa McAuliffe: How NASA’s Teacher in Space Project Ended in Tragedy

Christa McAuliffe embraced the chance to be part of a space shuttle mission and, despite the Challenger disaster, left an inspiring legacy.

Challenger Disaster

The mission’s launch from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida , was delayed for six days due to weather and technical problems.

The morning of January 28 was unusually cold, and engineers warned their superiors that certain components—particularly the rubber O-rings that sealed the joints of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters—were vulnerable to failure at low temperatures. However, these warnings went unheeded, and at 11:39 a.m. Challenger lifted off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground, including the families of McAuliffe and the other astronauts on board, stared in disbelief as the shuttle broke up in a plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live television.

Within seconds, the spacecraft broke apart and plunged into the ocean, killing its entire crew, traumatizing the nation and throwing NASA’s shuttle program into turmoil.

Rogers Commission

Shortly after the disaster, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went wrong with Challenger and to develop future corrective measures. Headed by former secretary of state William Rogers, the commission included former astronaut Neil Armstrong and former test pilot Chuck Yeager .

Their investigation revealed that the O-ring seal on Challenger’s solid rocket booster, which had become brittle in the cold temperatures, failed. Flames then broke out of the booster and damaged the external fuel tank, causing the spacecraft to explode and disintegrate.

The commission also found that Morton Thiokol, the company that designed the solid rocket boosters, had ignored warnings about potential issues. NASA managers were aware of these design problems but also failed to take action.

Famously, scientist Richard Feynman, a member of the commission, demonstrated the O-ring flaw to the public using a simple glass of ice water.

Aftermath of the Challenger Explosion

After the accident, NASA refrained from sending astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of the shuttle’s features.

Flights began again in September 1988 with the successful launching of Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, including the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station .

On February 1, 2003, a second shuttle disaster rocked the United States when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentry , killing all seven people aboard. While missions resumed in July 2005, the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

Ten years after the Challenger disaster, two large pieces from the spacecraft washed ashore on a Florida beach. The remaining debris is now stored in a missile silo at Cape Canaveral.

HISTORY Vault: Christa McAuliffe: Teacher in Space

Portrait of the teacher who died in the tragic explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. Includes interviews with her parents and students.

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Essay On Space Shuttle Disaster

Scared, worried and stress were some of the things that I felt at the time. My friends were doing all they could do to fix the problem. One was listening to whatever the engineers said while the other was trying to build a oxygen tank from spare parts we had in the shuttle. It had been roughly fifty six hours, and we had travelled two hundred thousand miles away from Earth. There is nothing or no one around us; just a empty, cold, dark void that surrounded us.We were missing potable water, we had very limited power and we were losing cabin heat rapidly.Another rocket wouldn’t have been fast enough to get to us in time before we froze or died of dehydration. Before this expedition, I thought this was going to be one of the most amazing moments …show more content…

I wanted to cry, but I had to remain calm as anxiety and rapid breathing would waste oxygen too quickly. We were freezing and there wasn't much power to keep the space shuttle alive. Because the fuel cells generated the Command/Service module’s electrical power, when the oxygen tank one ran dry, the remaining fuels cells shut down. The damage to the Service Module made safe return impossible for us; so our Lead Flight Director ordered an abort to the mission. The brilliant engineers back at NASA decided to use the moon’s gravity to “slingshot” back to Earth. Desperate and panicked, my friend sat down to try to remain calm. I never expected this moment to happen in my life. I started to sweat, worrying because if i had messed up then I would have killed my friends and myself. The trajectory had to be perfect. If we heading to much to the moon, we would have crashed. If we were too far away from the moon, we wouldn't have been caught by the moon’s gravity.I started to remember my wife and children again. Knowing that if I messed up, I would not see them again. I begin to shake, terrified of the future. I haven’t even started and I was doubting myself. I didn't think I could accomplish the task that was ahead of me. Even though I had the guidance of both, my team at the space shuttle and back on NASA. After spending several hours, I found myself concentrated on the task

Rhetorical Analysis Of Ronald Reagan's Challenger Address

As discussed earlier, approximately 17 percent of Americans witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle on live broadcast and the rest soon learned about the tragic event through newspaper, radio or television. The whole country was in shock, grief and fear. That’s why Reagan chose to address to all of American people at the beginning of this speech “we share this pain with all of the people of our country” and “this is truly a national loss.”

Leadership on Apollo 13 Essays

At this point, there was enough oxygen in the second system to get the astronauts home safely, but Lovell, one of the astronauts, noticed that the psi (pounds per square inch) level on the pressure gauge for the second system was falling as well. It should normally register at 860, now it was only a 300, only 53 minutes after the initial explosion. At this pace, the spacecraft would expend all of its oxygen and electricity between midnight and 3 AM. This was not giving the Control Center a lot of time.

Apollo 13 Essay example

The ground controllers had some major problems to solve. They had to write and test new procedures to send up to the crew for a safe arrival home. A new navigation problem had to be solved to provide the crew with a speedy return. Water was also a main concern. The crew was estimated to run out of water in about five hours. But tests on previous Apollo missions found that the ship could run without water for about seven hours. The astronauts began to conserve water by cutting the amount they drank to six ounces each day. The crew began to get dehydrated and they

Apollo 11 Text Effective

The Times magazine published this article to inform America and countries around the world about the Apollo 11 mission. Throughout this text the author accurately describes what occurred when the man took his first steps on the moon, for example the author states, “The spectacular moment came after he had inched his way down the ladder of the fragile lunar bug Eagle while Edwin Aldrin watched his movements from inside the craft.” This demonstrates the author’s effective appeal to pathos because this description gives an accurate depiction about the occurrence, allowing them to feel the sense of pride Neil Armstrong felt the moment he stepped off the rocket.

Apollo 13 Ethics

During this time they did not want to admit how big of a problem they actually had, and that they didn’t know how to solve it. Oxygen was the main concern, because they were expected to run out in minutes. The Command Lunar Module was really their only option at this point, though they believed it to be very dangerous because it was not meant to go back into earth's atmosphere, it was only supposed to travel 60 miles and most importantly, it was made to hold only two people at once. The lunar module was also known as “Aquarius.” At this point they only had two options. To make an about face and completely turn around the spacecraft or to go around the moon but have the possibility of running out of power and oxygen, which is essential for the safety of the crew. They chose to go around the

Apollo 13 Essay

A few days later Lovell and his crew take off on the Apollo 13 mission. At first all is well until the second oxygen tank explodes, causing many problems for the crew; the most potent problem being that the crew was losing oxygen fast. Luckily, due to much ingenuity by the crew and mission control, the crew is able to arrive safely to earth without the deaths of any astronauts.

Ellis Island First Person Creative Essay

When the ship finally arrived at America. I was feeling excited yet apprehensive. I felt excited to see this new world that had been all the talk on the ship. However, worry was practically eating my insides; where would we go? What would we do? Would wild animals attack us? How would we earn our living? Would there be savages waiting for us? Where were we landing? Would we be sent back? What would the people be like? Would I still be able to go to school? Would we have to live off the land? (If so, I could take Carlotta and Sancho with me)! I could not bear the thought of another few weeks cooped up in that ship. Of course, I was nervous, and there were butterflies in my stomach, too!

A Hero's Journey To The Future

Our trip was set for ninety two days which was very impressive for the distance we had to cross. With a nearly perfect space voyage across the empty void separating our old planet from our new one. We only had one casualty, a crew member had a heart attack mid way through the journey. The sad loss of life was a big blow to our morality but we had a job and a mission to do. After the death everything went smoothly all scientific research continued and life in zero gravity was enjoyable.Those days were sadly about to end.

Wings-Personal Narrative

It was late in the August of 1979. My hair was grown out halfway to my shoulders, a light hazel color now slightly blonde from the summer sun. I was at a beach with a few of my friends, playing frisbee and admiring the setting sun in the distance. We all had planned this trip to California for about a year now, and boy, was it worth it. My friend Erik’s brother had a house out here, so we had a place to stay. We’d spent all day at a little cove near the house, and we were lying in the sand now, waiting for the moon’s arrival.

Anxiety In Theatre

The wind was caressing my face, leaving the tears on my cheeks dry. I hoped the ride would end soon and prayed for an emergency break. It was the roller-coaster they call life and there was no way to unbuckle my seatbelt. There were multiple ups and downs in my life, some reaching the ozone layer and others touching the very middle of Earth’s core, but how could I be so pessimistic? It was time to keep from closing my eyes each 70 feet drop from the peak of the roller-coaster. I had found a way to overcome my obstacles and achieve what was on the other side of fear. I completed my goal of getting over such a temporary feeling of anxiety. I wished to not have theatre arts as an elective of mine, do a presentation for my peers, and not eat in front of others. It was an ongoing cycle but the fact that

The Physiological And Psychological Effects Of Interplanetary Colonization

Above 45,000 feet the atmosphere gets rugged, damaged, and begins to grow deeper and darker in color. This occurs because of the decrease in amount of nitrogen and oxygen molecules that are used to populate the air. This alone has tremendous effects on the human body, not just physically, but mentally. In the 1950’s, a major concern of those involved with space research and travel was a psychological problem, called the “Break-Off phenomenon” (Sours). It is often described as, “the notion that you would feel disconnected from the earth when you were above it, particularly when you were in orbit,” (Rivas) remembers Dr. Larry Young, and astronautics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a NASA 's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program advisor. Whether it was just an individual’s psychology, the excessive isolation, the ergonomics of aerodynamics, or just the plain perspective of being up so high, those being prepped for space exploration often exhibited emotional extremes that seemed to make some not only feel separated from Earth, but also feel as if they had detached from reality.

Race Descriptive Writing

I can see it through the open windows of the buildings, standing there, tall, shiny gray and with the American flag painted on the front. My hands are sweating and my heart is racing. I’ve never felt this way before, but I remember why I’m doing this and that after all I did to get here I can’t back down now. I step out of the room in the hall. I can hear the reporters and the people outside. They scream my name and the camera’s flash. I push open the door and I’m confronted with not only the hundreds of people but with my destiny. The closer I get to it, the more it seems to grow, like a weed in my mother’s garden. By the time I get to the loading ramp and stare up at it, I can no longer tell where the spaceship ends and the sky begins. The beams of sun reflect off it and blind you. I have to squint just to see my family--and my future

Ares 7 Reflection

Today, me and my crew began our long journey to mars on mission Ares 7. After a year and a half of astronaut training, and countless different classes, the time where we lift off and start this exciting new chapter in our lives has finally come. Being able to be a part of such a momentous and historic mission is the biggest privilege of my life time, and I can’t find words to describe how deeply honored I feel. The few minutes between the starting countdown and the spaceship leaving the earth’s atmosphere will forever be one of the tensest, most nerve-wracking, and most cherished memories of my life.

I Am A Man Has Ever Dreamed Of Doing

I, impey barbicane have done something no man has ever dreamed of doing, planning and executing a 3.5 day long journey to the white and gray, dusty, rocky surface of Earth’s one and only satellite, the Moon. Yet here I am, with my Philadelphian armor making rival, Captain Nicholl and French poet, Michel Ardan. The ride is not a fun one; rather the opposite. In fact, my arms and legs are so tired, I just wish I could be a mere infant once again, holding on to my mum and not having to do anything at all.

My Experience Of Being Alone

I started to forget my sense of reality and even myself, so I can just let go of my fear which is the scary part of the lost journey. Wondered why I was given this mission, it wasn’t risky it was torture with miracles, light years across of knowledge I past, with no found of life yet I just wanted my fulfilled life back.

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The Challenger Space Shuttle Accident Analysis Essay

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On January 28, 1986, the Challenger space shuttle accident became one of the most tragic events in the history of space exploration. Unfortunately, three astronauts were killed, and one of them was the first woman to die in space. However, even in this terrible time, we learned many important lessons about the safety of space flights.

The Challenger accident was caused by a faulty O-ring seal in the solid rocket booster (SRB). The seal failed to properly seal the joint between two SRB segments, resulting in hot gas leaking from the SRB (Matherly, 2021). This caused the SRB to break away from the shuttle, and the resulting aerodynamic forces caused the shuttle to break apart.

The Challenger space shuttle accident occurred at an altitude of eighty kilometers. The cause of the accident was a wrongly set valve, which led to a complete depletion of fuel in the ship’s engines. Unfortunately, the plane was unable to land, and all crew members died in the accident. But even in this incredibly tragic time, we learned many important lessons. Firstly, it is proof that in any space operation, strict safety procedures must be followed. Secondly, we know that even with a professional crew and high-tech equipment, space flights can still be hazardous (Matherly, 2021). The Challenger accident also led to an understanding that even the slightest details, such as valves, can be of utmost importance for safe flight.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is facing significant challenges in the wake of the Challenger accident. The accident resulted from a breach of safety protocols, leading to tragic consequences (Matherly, 2021). To prevent similar accidents, NASA must implement an effective safety management system, including SMS.

SMS is a safety management technology that provides fast and efficient safety process management. It allows NASA personnel to receive immediate feedback on the current safety status in real-time. This helps prevent potential accidents by quickly identifying and resolving issues. SMS also allows NASA personnel to immediately receive information on potential hazards and the actions needed to avoid them (Vaughan, 2020). For example, in the case of the Challenger accident, NASA could have immediately received notifications from the SMS system about the current safety status and the actions needed to prevent the accident.

Furthermore, the SMS system allows NASA personnel to make more informed safety decisions. It provides them with objective safety process information and analytics as well as a detailed description of the current safety status. This helps NASA personnel make quick and correct decisions to prevent potential accidents. In sum, the implementation of an effective SMS safety management system will enable NASA to “avoid” accidents like the Challenger accident. This system helps NASA personnel receive immediate feedback on safety processes and allows them to make informed and quick decisions to prevent accidents (Vaughan, 2020). Thus, the implementation of an effective SMS safety management system after the Challenger accident will be a crucial step for NASA in preventing similar accidents in the future.

The Challenger disaster of January 28, 1986, was one of the most tragic and saddening events in the history of spaceflight. For over thirty years, we have learned critical lessons about the safety of space travel, which are still applied today. The disaster has brought us to an understanding of safety and has demonstrated that even the most minor details can be critical to a safe flight.

Matherly, G. (2021). The Challenger Disaster.

Vaughan, D. (2020). History as cause: Columbia and Challenger. In Organizational Collaboration (pp. 234-245). Routledge.

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How to Make Space Shuttle?

Overview of Space Shuttle

Whenever we see up at the sky, we always want to know what's there in space. Not only do we want to know, but also we want to go there, and for that curiosity, scientist has made a space shuttle. Do you know what's space shuttle is? If not, then don't worry.

Today we will learn about the space shuttle, but before starting, let's talk a little bit and introduce it. So, the space shuttle was a NASA space transportation system which travelled between earth and earth's orbit. It carried as many as seven astronauts at a time to and from space. 

Space Shuttle Launches into Space

But to know more about spacecraft for kids, let's read this article. Here we will learn about how to make the space shuttle, and it works. And will also discuss some space shuttle facts for kids and many more interesting things related to the space shuttle. So, let's begin. 

Who Invented Space Shuttle?

John Young and Robert Crippen launched the space shuttle program by piloting Columbia to space and returning successfully two days later on April 12, 1981. Space shuttle astronaut Sally Ride became the first U.S. woman in space as part of the Challenger crew in 1983.

The program was a tremendous success for NASA, but in 1986 NASA endured several tragedies. A string of successful missions was broken when Challenger disintegrated a second after liftoff, killing its seven members of the crew.

After this incident, the space shuttle program was suspended. No shuttle was launched for nearly three years. In April 1990 , with the successful missions of discovery, the program rebounded. This flight placed the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.

Hubble Space Telescope 

The space shuttle was made of three parts. The first one is the orbiter, the second is the external tank and the third is solid rocket boosters. The orbiter looked like an aeroplane. The orbiter flew around Earth. The astronauts controlled the space shuttle and lived in this part. NASA had five orbiters: Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavour. The external tank contains orange fuel.  The two thin cylinders that look like rockets are the solid rocket booster. They gave the extra fuel to the rocket to lift it from Earth's gravity.

How does the Space Shuttle Work?

The space shuttle launched into earth's orbit like a rocket. But it returned like a glider aeroplane.

Space Shuttle Landing

The solid rocket boosters and the main engines on the orbiter helped the shuttle blast off from Earth's gravity like a rocket. The two boosters dropped off the shuttle after two minutes of launch. They landed in the ocean; a boat picked the boosters out of the ocean, so they were used again for the next flight. The external tank contains organic fuel. It dropped off the orbiter after it had used all the fuel in the tank. They don't use external tanks again and would burn up over Earth.

When the shuttle orbiter landed on Earth, it landed like an aeroplane. Wheels came from underneath the orbiter. It landed on the runway and stopped. Then NASA prepared it to fly on another mission. 

Facts About Space Shuttle 

The space shuttle was the first-ever reusable spacecraft. Space rockets aren’t reusable; they only have a one-time use.

Space shuttles were launched in 1981 for the first time. The shuttle was named Columbia. 

NASA retired the space shuttle in 2011 . The last landing of the space shuttle, called Atlantis. It landed at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on July 21st, 2011.

The space shuttle could carry up to 7 astronauts at a time. Every astronaut would participate in scientific experiments, release and capture satellites and even help build the International Space Station.

Space shuttles are now retired, but you can still see some of them in museums. They are located in America.

So in this article, we learned about an exciting thing, and that is a space shuttle. We learned about the space shuttle in a very wonderful and easy way. We discussed so many interesting points which were related to space shuttles we discussed how to make a space shuttle, how a space shuttle works, what are some interesting facts which are related to the space shuttle. We also discussed who invented the space shuttle. 

FAQs on How to Make Space Shuttle?

1. How many times can a space shuttle be used?

The Space Shuttle orbiter was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or ten years of operational life, which was later extended.

2. How fast can a space shuttle go?

Speed of the space shuttle is 28,000 km/hr (17,500 mph).

3. What replaced the space shuttle?

Orion is Nasa's new spaceship to visit the Moon and Mars destinations.

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