Space Shuttle Program
The space shuttle system composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank carried up.
Space shuttle program. The space shuttle program sent more than 3 million pounds of cargo into space. The space shuttle program officially called the space transportation system sts was the united states government s manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011 administered by nasa and officially beginning in 1972. The space shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the national aeronautics and space administration nasa which accomplished routine transportation for earth to orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011.
It was developed by nasa and made 135 spaceflights between 1981 and 2011. Nasa s space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on april 12 1981 and continued to set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions. The space shuttle was a partially reusable low earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the national aeronautics and space administration nasa as part of the space shuttle program its official program name was space transportation system sts taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.
Since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011 nasa has relied on the russian soyuz spacecraft to ferry its astronauts to and from the international space station iss. The program rebounded in april 1990 with the successful mission of discovery. The space shuttle program was suspended in the wake of the accident and no shuttles were launched for nearly three years.
Its official name space transportation system sts was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for. With the launch of space shuttle discovery on september 29 1988 nasa entered a brand new era of space shuttle operations adopting a more relaxed pace averaging about eight launches per year. This was just the 25th space shuttle mission and it became stunningly clear that major modifications to the entire space shuttle program were called for.