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Last Flights of the Space Shuttle
After the Space Shuttle???
The Constellation Program, with its Ares and Orion spacecraft,
will take us to the Moon and Mars.
Space Shuttle Fleet
ENTERPRISE (OV-101):
The first Space Shuttle, technically designated as Orbiter Vehicle 101 (OV-101) was originally named Constitution, but after a flood of letters from fans of the Gene Roddenberry creation, Star Trek, it was renamed Enterprise. Ironically, although it flew over a dozen flights, the Enterprise never made it into space. It was designed strictly as a test vehicle, and never intended to withstand the hostile environment of space. On Nov. 18, 1985, it became part of the Smithsonian Institute.
COLUMBIA (OV-102):
On April 12, 1981, the Columbia became the first Space Shuttle to fly into space. It entered low Earth orbit at an altitude of 166 nautical miles. Carrying a crew of only two, it completed 37 orbits and landed safely on April 14. The mission, designated STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1), proved the space worthiness of the vessel, and the highly successful Space Shuttle program was off and running.
The name Columbia continued a distinguished legacy, starting with that most famous of explorers, Christopher Columbus. The American sloop named Columbia was the first to navigate the great northwestern river that was given the same name. That same ship was the first American ship to sail around the world. The first U.S. naval ship to circumnavigate the globe was also named Columbia, as was the command module of the first manned landing on the Moon, Apollo 11.
After safely completing 28 flights into space, Columbia was destroyed re-entering Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003. The cause was attributed to heat resistant tiles that were damaged during launch, and failed to protect the ship during the extreme heat of re-entry. Columbia broke up over New Mexico at an altitude of 207,135 feet, travelling 12,500 miles per hour. The entire seven person crew was killed.
CHALLENGER (OV-99)
Challenger was originally built as a test vehicle, designated STA-099. In 1983, after being converted to a fully rated orbiter vehicle with the designation OV-99, Challenger became the second Space Shuttle to fly into space. The mission was STS-6, the sixth Space Shuttle flight into orbit.
Over the next three years Challenger completed nine successful missions into space and back. On January 28, 1986, its tenth ill fated mission began. Only 73 seconds after lift-off, travelling nearly twice the speed of sound at an altitude of 46,000 feet, a fuel seal ruptured, allowing fuel to escape and causing a catastrophic explosion. The ship was destroyed and all seven crew members killed.
DISCOVERY (OV-103)
Discovery is the oldest Space Shuttle still in operation. Construction of the spacecraft began in 1979, and it flew its first mission in 1984. As of this writing it has safely completed 34 missions into space and back and is still going strong.
The first ship named Discovery was captained by Henry Hudson in the early 1600's, when he explored Hudson's Bay and searched for the elusive Northwest Passage to the Orient. A hundred years later another Discovery, captained by James Cook, discovered the Hawaiian Islands and explored much of the northwest coast of North America. The British Royal Geographical Society built two Discoveries, one that headed an expedition to the North Pole in 1875, and another that explored Antarctica in 1904.
ATLANTIS (OV-104)
Atlantis is the second oldest Shuttle in operation, first heading into space in 1985. It has 29 missions under its belt and is still an active and trustworthy space vehicle. It was named after the first American vessel dedicated to oceanic research, a two masted, 460 ton sailing ship that was the last of its kind as steam and diesel power took over the world's oceans.
ENDEAVOUR (OV-105)
Endeavour is the newest of NASA's three operational Space Shuttles. Its first trip into space was in 1992, and it has safely completed 21 missions. A competition was held between elementary and secondary students across America, and it was decided to name the orbiter after Captain Cook's first ship. Cook's Endeavour explored much of the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand. It also conducted important astronomical research, such as the study of a rare transit of Venus across the face of the Sun in 1768.
For more info, go to http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html.
