Timeline of Space Shuttle orbiters
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The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle, a partially reusable
orbital Orbital may refer to: Sciences Chemistry and physics * Atomic orbital * Molecular orbital * Hybrid orbital Astronomy and space flight * Orbit ** Earth orbit Medicine and physiology * Orbit (anatomy), also known as the ''orbital bone'' * Orbito ...
spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program. Operated from 1977 to 2011 by NASA, the U.S. space agency, this vehicle could carry astronauts and payloads into low Earth orbit, perform in-space operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a
glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
, returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth. Six orbiters were built for flight: '' Enterprise'', ''
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
'', ''
Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...
'', ''
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
'', '' Atlantis'', and ''
Endeavour Endeavour or endeavor may refer to: People Fictional characters * Endeavour Morse, central character of the ''Inspector Morse'' novels by Colin Dexter * Endeavor, the hero name for the character Enji Todoroki from the anime series ''My Hero A ...
''. All were built in
Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. The city lies in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On Aug ...
, by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Rockwell International company. The first orbiter, ''Enterprise'', made its maiden flight in 1977. An unpowered glider, it was carried by a modified
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
airliner called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and released for a series of atmospheric test flights and landings. ''Enterprise'' was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing. The remaining orbiters were fully operational spacecraft, and were launched vertically as part of the Space Shuttle stack. ''Columbia'' was the first space-worthy orbiter; it made its inaugural flight in 1981. ''Challenger'', ''Discovery'', and ''Atlantis'' followed in 1983, 1984, and 1985 respectively. In 1986, ''Challenger'' was destroyed in an accident shortly after its 10th launch. ''Endeavour'' was built as ''Challenger''s successor, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, ''Columbia'' was destroyed during re-entry, leaving just three remaining orbiters. ''Discovery'' completed its final flight on March 9, 2011, and ''Endeavour'' completed its final flight on June 1, 2011. ''Atlantis'' completed the final Shuttle flight, STS-135, on July 21, 2011. In addition to their crews and payloads, the reusable orbiter carried most of the Space Shuttle System's
liquid-propellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high Specific impulse, specific impulse (''I''sp). T ...
system, but both the liquid hydrogen
fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
and the liquid oxygen oxidizer for its three main rocket engines were fed from an external cryogenic propellant tank. Additionally, two reusable solid rocket boosters (SRBs) provided additional thrust for approximately the first two minutes of launch. The orbiters themselves did carry
hypergolic propellant A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The two propellant components usually consist of a fuel and an oxidizer. Th ...
s for their Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters and Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines.


Description

About the size of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, the Space Shuttle orbiter resembled an airplane in its design, with a standard-looking fuselage and two
double delta A delta wing is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (Δ). Although long studied, it did not find significant applications until the Jet Age, when it proved suitab ...
wings, both
swept wing A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigate ...
s at an angle of 81 degrees at their inner leading edges and 45 degrees at their outer leading edges. The vertical stabilizer of the orbiter had a leading edge that was swept back at a 45-degree angle. There were four elevons mounted at the trailing edges of the delta wings, and the combination rudder and speed brake was attached at the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer. These, along with a movable body flap located underneath the main engines, controlled the orbiter during later stages of reentry.


Attitude control system

The Reaction Control System (RCS) was composed of 44 small liquid-fueled rocket thrusters and their very sophisticated fly-by-wire flight control system, which utilized computationally intensive digital Kalman filtering. This control system carried out the usual attitude control along the pitch, roll, and yaw axes during all of the flight phases of launching, orbiting, and re-entry. This system also executed any needed orbital maneuvers, including all changes in the orbit's altitude, orbital plane, and eccentricity. These were all operations that required more thrust and impulse than mere attitude control. The forward rockets of the Reaction Control System, located near the nose of the Space Shuttle orbiter, included 14 primary and two vernier RCS rockets. The aft RCS engines were located in the two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods at the rear of the orbiter, and these included 12 primary (PRCS) and two vernier (VRCS) engines in each pod. The PRCS system provided the pointing control of the Orbiter, and the VRCS was used for fine maneuvering during the rendezvous, docking, and undocking maneuvers with the International Space Station, or formerly with the Russian Mir space station. The RCS also controlled the attitude of the orbiter during most of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere – until the air became dense enough that the rudder, elevons and body flap became effective. The orbiter's OMS and RCS fuel is monomethyl hydrazine (CH3NHNH2), and the oxidizer is dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4). This particular propellant combination is extremely reactive and spontaneously ignites on contact (hypergolic) with each other. This chemical reaction (4CH3NHNH2 + 5N2O4 → 9N2 + 4CO2 + 12H2O) occurs within the engine's combustion chamber. The reaction products are then expanded and accelerated in the engine bell to provide thrust. Due to their hypergolic characteristics these two chemicals are easily started and restarted without an ignition source, which makes them ideal for spacecraft maneuvering systems. During the early design process of the orbiter, the forward RCS thrusters were to be hidden underneath retractable doors, which would open once the orbiter reached space. These were omitted in favor of flush-mounted thrusters for fear that the RCS doors would remain stuck open and endanger the crew and orbiter during re-entry.


Pressurized cabin

The orbiter's flight deck or cockpit originally had 2,214 controls and displays, about three times as many as the Apollo command module. The crew cabin consisted of the flight deck, the mid-deck, and the utility area. The uppermost of these was the flight deck, in which sat the Space Shuttle's commander and pilot, with up to two mission specialists seated behind them. The mid-deck, which was below the flight deck, had three more seats for the rest of the crew members. The galley, toilet, sleep locations, storage lockers, and the side hatch for entering and exiting the orbiter were also located on the mid-deck, as well as the airlock. The airlock had an additional hatch into the payload bay. This airlock allowed two or three astronauts, wearing their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suits, to depressurize before a walk in space ( EVA), and also to repressurize and re-enter the orbiter at the conclusion of the EVA. The utility area was located under the floor of the mid-deck and contained air and water tanks in addition to the carbon dioxide scrubbing system.


Propulsion

Three
Space Shuttle Main Engine The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25, also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine that was used on NASA's Space Shuttle and is currently used on the Space Launch System (SLS). Designed and manufacture ...
s (SSMEs) were mounted on the orbiter's aft fuselage in the pattern of an equilateral triangle. These three liquid-fueled engines could be swiveled 10.5 degrees vertically and 8.5 degrees horizontally during the rocket-powered ascent of the orbiter in order to change the direction of their thrust. Hence, they steered the entire Space Shuttle, as well as providing rocket thrust towards orbit. The aft fuselage also housed three auxiliary power units (APU). The APUs chemically converted
hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine ...
fuel from a liquid state to a gas state, powering a
hydraulic pump Hydraulic pumps are used in hydraulic drive systems and can be hydrostatic or hydrodynamic. A hydraulic pump is a mechanical source of power that converts mechanical power into hydraulic energy ( hydrostatic energy i.e. flow, pressure). It generat ...
which supplied pressure for all of the hydraulic system, including the hydraulic sub-system that pointed the three main liquid-fueled rocket engines, under computerized
flight control A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight. Aircraft e ...
. The hydraulic pressure generated was also used to control all of the orbiter's flight control surfaces (the elevons, rudder, speed brake, etc.), to deploy the landing gear of the orbiter, and to retract the umbilical hose connection doors located near the rear landing gear, which supplied the orbiter's SSMEs with liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the external tank. Two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) thrusters were mounted in two separate removable pods on the orbiter's aft fuselage, located between the SSMEs and the vertical stabilizer. The OMS engines provided significant thrust for course
orbital maneuver In spaceflight, an orbital maneuver (otherwise known as a burn) is the use of propulsion systems to change the orbit of a spacecraft. For spacecraft far from Earth (for example those in orbits around the Sun) an orbital maneuver is called a ' ...
s, including insertion, circularization, transfer, rendezvous, deorbit, abort to orbit, and to abort once around. At lift-off, two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were used to take the vehicle to an altitude of roughly 140,000 feet.


Electrical power

Electric power for the orbiter's subsystems was provided by a set of three hydrogen-oxygen
fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
s which produced 28 volt
DC power Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...
and was also converted into 115 volt 400 Hz AC three-phase electric power (for systems that used AC power). These provided power to the entire Shuttle stack (including the SRBs and ET) from T-minus 3m30s up through the end of the mission. The hydrogen and oxygen for the fuel cells was kept in pairs of
cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
storage tanks in the mid-fuselage underneath the payload bay liner, and a variable number of such tanks could be installed (up to five) depending on the requirements of the mission. The three fuel cells were capable of generating 21 kilowatts of power continuously (or a 15-minute peak of 36 kilowatts) with the orbiter consuming an average of about 14 kilowatts of that power (leaving 7 kilowatts for the payload). Additionally, the fuel cells provided
potable water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...
for the crew during the mission.


Computer systems

The orbiter's computer system consisted of five identical
IBM AP-101 The IBM System/4 Pi is a family of avionics computers used, in various versions, on the F-15 Eagle fighter, E-3 Sentry AWACS, Harpoon Missile, NASA's Skylab, MOL, and the Space Shuttle, as well as other aircraft. Development began in 1965, deliv ...
avionics computers, which redundantly controlled the vehicle's on-board systems. The specialized
HAL/S HAL/S (''High-order Assembly Language/Shuttle'') is a real-time aerospace programming language compiler and cross-compiler for avionics applications used by NASA and associated agencies ( JPL, etc.). It has been used in many U.S. space projects si ...
programming language was used for orbiter systems.


Thermal protection

The orbiters were protected by Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials (developed by Rockwell Space Systems) inside and out, from the orbiter's outer surface to the payload bay. The TPS protected it from the cold soak of in space to the heat of re-entry.


Structure

The orbiter's structure was made primarily from aluminium alloy, although the engine thrust structure was made from titanium alloy. The later orbiters (''Discovery'', ''Atlantis'' and ''Endeavour'') substituted
graphite epoxy Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), ...
for aluminum in some structural elements in order to reduce weight. The windows were made of aluminum silicate glass and fused silica glass, and comprised an internal pressure pane, a optical pane, and an external thermal pane. The windows were tinted with the same ink used to make American banknotes.


Landing gear

The Space Shuttle orbiter had three sets of landing gear which emerged downwards through doors in the heat shield. As a weight-saving measure, the gear could not be retracted once deployed. Since any premature extension of the landing gear would very likely have been catastrophic (as it opened through the heat shield layers), the landing gear could only be lowered by manual controls, and not by any automatic system. Similarly, since the Shuttle landed at high speed and could not abort its landing attempt, the gear had to deploy reliably on the first try every time. The gear were unlocked and deployed by triple redundant hydraulics, with the gear doors actuated by mechanical linkages to the gear strut. If all three hydraulic systems failed to release the landing gear uplocks within one second of the release command, pyrotechnic charges automatically cut the lock hooks and a set of springs deployed the gear. During landing, the Shuttle nose wheel could be steered with the
rudder pedal A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight. Aircraft e ...
s in the cockpit. During the construction of , an improved nose wheel steering system was developed which allowed easier and more effective nose wheel steering. After ''Endeavour'' roll-out, the system was installed on the other shuttles during their overhauls in the early 1990s.


Lack of navigational lights

The Space Shuttle orbiter did not carry anti-collision lights, navigational lights, or landing lights, because the orbiter always landed in areas that had been specially cleared by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Air Force. The orbiter always landed at either
Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
, California or at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, Florida, except STS-3 at the
White Sands Space Harbor White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH) is a spaceport in New Mexico that was formerly used as a Space Shuttle runway, a test site for rocket research, and the primary training area used by NASA for Space Shuttle pilots practicing approaches and landin ...
in New Mexico. Similar special clearances (no-fly zones) were also in effect at potential emergency landing sites, such as in Spain and in West Africa during all launches. When an orbiter landing was carried out at night, the runway was always strongly illuminated with light from floodlights and spotlights on the ground, making landing lights on the orbiter unnecessary and also an unneeded spaceflight weight load. A total of 26 landings took place at night, the first being STS-8 in September 1983.


Markings and insignia

The typeface used on the Space Shuttle orbiter was Helvetica. The prototype orbiter ''Enterprise'' originally had a
flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rect ...
on the upper surface of the left wing and the letters "USA" in black on the right wing. The name "Enterprise" in black was painted on the payload bay doors just above the forwardmost hinge and behind the crew module; on the aft end of the payload bay doors was the NASA "worm" logotype in gray. Underneath the rear of the payload bay doors on the side of the fuselage just above the wing was the text "United States" in black with a
flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rect ...
ahead of it. The first operational orbiter, ''Columbia'', originally had the same markings as ''Enterprise'', although the letters "USA" on the right wing were slightly larger and spaced farther apart. ''Columbia'' also had black tiles which ''Enterprise'' lacked on its forward RCS module, around the cockpit windows, and on its vertical stabilizer. ''Columbia'' also had distinctive black
chines A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...
on the forward part of its upper wing surfaces, which none of the other orbiters had. ''Challenger'' established a modified marking scheme for the shuttle fleet that would be matched by ''Discovery'', ''Atlantis'' and ''Endeavour''. The letters "USA" in black above an American flag were displayed on the left wing, with the NASA "worm" logotype in gray centered above the name of the orbiter in black on the right wing. Also, the name of the orbiter was inscribed not on the payload bay doors, but on the forward fuselage just below and behind the cockpit windows. This would make the name visible when the orbiter was photographed in orbit with the doors open. ''Challenger'' also had black tiles on the tip of its vertical stabilizer much like ''Columbia'', which the other orbiters lacked. In 1983, ''Enterprise'' had its wing markings changed to match ''Challenger'', and the NASA "worm" logotype on the aft end of the payload bay doors was changed from gray to black. Some black markings were added to the nose, cockpit windows and vertical tail to more closely resemble the flight vehicles, but the name "Enterprise" remained on the payload bay doors as there was never any need to open them. ''Columbia'' had its name moved to the forward fuselage to match the other flight vehicles after STS-61-C, during the 1986–1988 hiatus when the shuttle fleet was grounded following the loss of ''Challenger'', but retained its original wing markings until its last overhaul (after STS-93), and its unique black chines for the remainder of its operational life. Beginning in 1998, the flight vehicles' markings were modified to incorporate the NASA "meatball" insignia. The "worm" logotype, which the agency had phased out, was removed from the payload bay doors and the "meatball" insignia was added aft of the "United States" text on the lower aft fuselage. The "meatball" insignia was also displayed on the left wing, with the American flag above the orbiter's name, left-justified rather than centered, on the right wing. The three surviving flight vehicles, ''Discovery'', ''Atlantis'' and ''Endeavour'', still bear these markings as museum displays. ''Enterprise'' became the property of the Smithsonian Institution in 1985 and was no longer under NASA's control when these changes were made, hence the prototype orbiter still has its 1983 markings and still has its name on the payload bay doors.


Retirement

With the end of the Shuttle program, plans were made to place the three remaining Space Shuttle orbiters on permanent display. NASA Administrator
Charles F. Bolden Jr. Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (born August 19, 1946) is a former Administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General, and a former astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. He graduated from the United States Naval A ...
announced the disposition location of the orbiters on April 12, 2011, the 50th anniversary of the first human space flight and the 30th anniversary of the first flight of ''Columbia''. ''Discovery'' went to the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, replacing ''Enterprise'' which was moved to the
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum The ''Intrepid'' Sea, Air & Space Museum is an American military and maritime history museum in New York City with a collection of museum ships. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street, along the Hudson River, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhoo ...
in New York City. ''Endeavour'' went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles arriving on October 14, 2012. ''Atlantis'' went to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on November 2, 2012. Hundreds of other shuttle artifacts will be put on display at various other museums and educational institutions around the U.S. One of the Crew Compartment Trainer Flight and mid-deck training hardware is on display at the
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
, while the other is on display at the JSC. The Full Fuselage Trainer, which includes the payload bay and aft section but no wings, is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. The Mission Simulation and Training Facility's
Shuttle Mission Simulator Shuttle Mission Simulator (SMS) was an umbrella term for three separate simulators for training Space Shuttle crews at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The simulators were the MBS (''Motion Base Simulator''), the FBS (''Fixed Base Simulator''), ...
Fixed Base Simulator originally went to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois but was later transferred to the
Stafford Air & Space Museum The Stafford Air & Space Museum is located in Weatherford, Oklahoma, Weatherford, Oklahoma, United States. The museum, named for NASA astronaut and Weatherford native Thomas P. Stafford, became a Smithsonian Affiliations, Smithsonian Affiliate in J ...
in Weatherford, Oklahoma. The Motion Base Simulator was transferred to the Texas A&M Aerospace Engineering Department in College Station, Texas, and the Guidance and Navigation Simulator went to the
Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum Wings of Dreams is an aviation museum located at the Keystone Heights Airport in Starke, Florida. The museum features exhibits on the airport's role as Keystone Army Air Field and training of pilots in preparation for the Normandy Invasion duri ...
in
Starke, Florida Starke is a city in and the county seat of Bradford County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,796 at the 2020 census. The origin of the city's name is disputed. Starke may have been named in honor of local landowner George W. Cole's ...
. NASA also made approximately 7,000 TPS tiles available to schools and universities.


Shuttle Orbiter Specifications (OV-105)

The cargo bay is by , and could transport to , or to the ISS at . The most massive payload launched by the Space Shuttle was the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 at , including its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and support equipment. The Shuttle was capable of returning approximately of cargo to Earth. The orbiter's maximum glide ratio / lift-to-drag ratio varied considerably with speed, ranging from 1:1 at hypersonic speeds, 2:1 at supersonic speeds, and reaching 4.5:1 at subsonic speeds during approach and landing.


Fleet

Individual Space Shuttle orbiters were named in honor of antique sailing ships of the navies of the world (though the test orbiter ''Enterprise'', originally to be named "''Constitution''", had its name changed after the ''Star Trek'' starship, itself named after a series of US Navy ships), and they were also numbered using the NASA Orbiter Vehicle designation system. Three of the names had also been given to Apollo spacecraft between 1969 and 1972: Apollo 11 Command Module ''Columbia'',
Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...
Command Module ''Endeavour'', and
Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...
Lunar Module ''Challenger''. While all of the orbiters were externally practically identical, they had minor differences in their interiors. New equipment for the Orbiters was installed in the same order that they underwent maintenance work, and the newer orbiters were constructed by Rockwell International, under NASA supervision, with some more advanced, lighter in weight, structural elements. Thus, the newer orbiters (''Discovery'', ''Atlantis'' and ''Endeavour'') had slightly more cargo capacity than ''Columbia'' or ''Challenger''. The Space Shuttle orbiters were assembled at Rockwell's assembly facility in
Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. The city lies in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On Aug ...
, at the federally owned Plant 42 complex.


Orbiter Vehicle Designation

Each NASA Space Shuttle designation was composed of a
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
and suffix separated by a dash. The prefix for operational shuttles is OV, for Orbiter Vehicle. The suffix is composed of two parts: the series and the vehicle number; "0" was used for non-flight ready orbiters, and "1" was used for flight-ready orbiters. The vehicle number is sequentially assigned within the series, beginning with 1. Therefore, there can never be an OV-100 as it would read "Orbiter Vehicle Series 1 Vehicle 0". Many proposals to build a second generation of orbiters, externally compatible with the current system but internally new, refer to them as "OV-200" or "OV-2xx" in order to differentiate them from the "first generation", the OV-100s. This terminology is informal, and it is unlikely that any Shuttle-derived vehicle built will be given such designation. ''Challenger'' was originally intended to be used as a Structural Test Article (STA), rather than a flight-capable orbiter; as such, the numbering was changed when it was rebuilt. ''Enterprise'', on the other hand, was intended to be rebuilt into a flight-capable orbiter; it was found to be cheaper to rebuild STA-099 than OV-101, so it remained unflown. The designations were not altered, despite these changes in plans. An "OV-106" designation was given to the set of structural components manufactured to replace those used in the construction of ''Endeavour''; however, the contract for these was canceled shortly afterwards, and they were never completed. The "096" and "097" designators were given to structural test articles that were canceled, but while they exist in some NASA records, the NASA History Office has no official record of STA-096 and STA-097.


Test article


Operational orbiters

* ''
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
'' was first launched on April 12, 1981. On February 1, 2003, ''Columbia'' disintegrated during re-entry on its 28th spaceflight. * ''
Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...
'' was first launched on April 4, 1983. On January 28, 1986, it disintegrated 73 seconds after launch on its 10th mission. * ''
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
'' was first launched on August 30, 1984. It flew 39 missions, and was NASA's "Return to Flight" vehicle, following the accidental destructions of ''Challenger'' and ''Columbia''. ''Discovery'' completed its last mission, STS-133, in March 2011. It is currently on display at the Smithsonian's
National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, near Dulles International Airport. * '' Atlantis'' was first launched on October 3, 1985. It flew 33 spaceflights including the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, in July 2011. * ''
Endeavour Endeavour or endeavor may refer to: People Fictional characters * Endeavour Morse, central character of the ''Inspector Morse'' novels by Colin Dexter * Endeavor, the hero name for the character Enji Todoroki from the anime series ''My Hero A ...
'' was first launched on May 7, 1992. It flew 25 spaceflights, the final being STS-134, launched May 16, 2011.


Mockups

In addition to the test articles and orbiters produced for use in the Shuttle program, there are also various mockup replicas on display throughout the United States: * ''Adventure'', a full-scale replica of an orbiter mid-deck and flight deck, also at Space Center Houston. * ''
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'', a full-scale replica of an orbiter for an attraction of the same name at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois and had authentic thermal tiles used in the shuttle missions. It was disassembled and removed in 2009. * '' Independence'', formerly ''Explorer'', a full-scale replica of the entire orbiter at the
Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...
's visitor facility, Space Center Houston, in
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
atop of the Shuttle Carrying Aircraft, NASA 905. * '' Inspiration (California)'', a nearly full-scale replica of an orbiter (lacking a left-wing, vertical stabilizer, and payload bay doors) displayed in a tent at the
Columbia Memorial Space Center The Columbia Memorial Space Center (CMSC) is a science museum in the Los Angeles area, at 12400 Columbia Way, City of Downey, California, US. It is owned and operated by Downey, and open to the general public as a hands-on space museum and activi ...
. * ''Inspiration (Florida)'', bearing the same name as the Californian mockup, is a full-scale replica of an orbiter formerly outside the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. It was subsequently sold by NASA to LVX and transported to the Shuttle Landing Facility for refurbishment and modifications in 2016. * ''Resolution!'', a full-scale replica of an orbiter crew-compartment, originally built to house an amateur flight simulator but later intended for use by Kennedy Space Center firefighters to practice rescue techniques. Now abandoned and nearly destroyed by nature and neglect.


Flight statistics


Flight history timeline


See also

* Space Shuttle for programme history and description of operations * Buran programme *
Dream Chaser Dream Chaser is an American reusable lifting-body spaceplane being developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems. Originally intended as a crewed vehicle, the Dream Chaser Space System is set to be produced after the cargo varian ...


Notes


References


External links


Orbiter Vehicles
* Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation, filed under Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, Harris County, TX: ** ** ** ** {{Authority control Tailless delta-wing aircraft Glider aircraft Orbiter Crewed spacecraft Spaceplanes NASA spacecraft Reusable spacecraft