NASA’s soon-to-be-retired space shuttle has conducted more than 130 missions over a 30-year period, setting many records for human space exploration. Let’s look back at three decades of shuttle flights.

On March 9, 2011, Discovery was officially retired as part of NASA’s discontinuation of the space shuttle program. With Atlantis and Endeavor in operation until June, NASA this month announced the final destinations for the three orbiters and the prototype shuttle Enterprise:

• Discovery, which retired after completing its 39th mission in March, will move to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum near Washington, D.C.;
• Enterprise, currently in the National Air and Space Museum, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City;
• Atlantis, which will fly the last planned shuttle mission in June, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida; and
• Endeavour, which is preparing for its final flight on Friday, will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

With the space shuttle program approaching retirement, the United States will have no method of sending humans into space, similar to the period after the Saturn V rocket, which launched all the Apollo missions, was retired and the space shuttle was still almost seven years from its first mission. In October 2010, Congress passed legislation that effectively killed the Constellation program, the proposed successor to the shuttle program. In the meantime, Russian Soyuz launches will accommodate American astronauts for select missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

Thirty years and 133 missions later, NASA’s shuttle program achieved many records for human space exploration. Additionally, the Challenger and Columbia disasters were national tragedies and elevated conversation about U.S. goals in space.

Here we look back at some highlights of the past three decades of space shuttle flights.

February 15, 1977: OV-101, Enterprise, performed its first (taxi) test flight as part of the shuttle program. The orbiter, named after the famous spaceships in the Star Trek series, performed several test flights through October 1977 before it was retired. NASA originally intended to alter the craft for orbital flight, but design issues resulted in it being cannibalized for parts and sent to Washington, D.C. for display. It never flew in space.

April 12, 1981: OV-102, Columbia, blasted into orbit, becoming the first successful space flight in the space shuttle program, STS-1 (Space Transportation System). It returned on April 14, 1981, after orbiting Earth 36 times. Columbia carried only two crew members: Apollo veteran John W. Young and rookie pilot Robert L. Crippen.

August 30, 1984: OV-103, Discovery, was first flown on mission STS-41-D, launching two communications satellites and becoming the third operational NASA orbital shuttle following Columbia and Challenger.

January 28, 1986: Approximately 73 seconds into liftoff, STS-51-L Challenger disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of central Florida, killing all seven crew members. The disaster was especially tragic because American schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was on board and children nationwide were watching the launch live on television. McAuliffe had been selected as part of a NASA publicity campaign to launch a teacher into space to lead lessons from orbit. The disaster led to a 32-month hiatus in the shuttle program and an investigation, which determined a faulty O-ring had allowed fuel to leak and subsequently ignite during launch.

Crew of tragic Challenger disaster
Credit: NASA

September 29, 1988: STS-26 Discovery launched with five crew members into space 975 days after the Challenger tragedy, during which time NASA had performed lengthy safety reviews and revisions, including a test of redesigned boosters. New regulations included the requirement that all crew members wear pressure suits during launch.

April 24, 1990: STS-31 Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. Hubble, which would need several servicing missions due to faulty mirrors, has allowed scientists and astronomers to see deeper into the galaxy than ever before, producing some of the most intricate and comprehensive images of our solar system ever recorded. The HST is due to retire in 2014, when it will be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope, an even more powerful orbiting deep-space telescope.

February 1, 2003: STS-107 came to an abrupt and tragic conclusion when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas, killing all seven crew members. Damage done to Columbia‘s foam insulation resulted in the left wing structure collapsing during re-entry, causing the entire orbiter to break apart. Subsequent investigations showed that the crew members had no time to react, leading to recommendations that included automated safety procedures and new policies giving the crew more time to prepare for descent.

At the Johnson Space Center, a memorial for Columbia crew members who lost their lives in February 2003
Credit: NASA

June 28, 2011: STS-135 is planned as the final space shuttle mission, authorized by President Barack Obama in October 2010. Atlantis will transport supplies to the ISS before returning to Earth 12 days later, bringing the space shuttle program to an official close. As of the completion of its 32nd flight (STS-132) in May 2010, Atlantis has orbited Earth more than 4,600 times, traveling more than 120 million miles in space. STS-135 will add an additional 5 million miles.

Crew of STS-135 Atlantis
Credit: NASA

Resources

NASA Announces New Homes for Space Shuttle Orbiters after Retirement
NASA.gov, April 12, 2011

Space Shuttle Timeline
MSNBC.com

History of the Space Shuttle
NASA.gov