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The Space Shuttle Columbia was lost as it returned from a two-week mission when previously detected damage to the shuttle's thermal protection system (TPS) resulted in the spacecraft breaking apart during reentry at an altitude of just under 65 km and a speed of about Mach 19. Investigation revealed that a piece of foam insulation had fallen ...
In September 1969, the Space Task Group, under the leadership of U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew, issued a report calling for the development of a space shuttle to bring people and cargo to low Earth orbit (LEO), as well as a space tug for transfers between orbits and the Moon, and a reusable nuclear upper stage for deep space travel.
Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on 12 April 1981 at Pad 39A for mission STS-1. The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable ...
Twenty-two years and 28 trips to space later, the same shuttle broke apart during its final return to Earth, killing all seven crew members on board. The tragedy spelled the end for the US space ...
On Saturday, February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was the second Space Shuttle mission to end in disaster, after the loss of Challenger and crew in 1986. The mission, designated STS-107, was the twenty-eighth flight for the ...
U.S. Space Shuttle missions were capable of carrying more humans and cargo than the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, resulting in more U.S. short-term human visits until the Space Shuttle program was discontinued in 2011. Between 2011 and 2020, Soyuz was the sole means of human transport to the ISS, delivering mostly long-term crew.
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of ...
Most launches from Earth. 10 launches. Frederick W. Sturckow (USA), Space Shuttle and SpaceShipTwo (1998–2024) Note: The six SpaceShipTwo flights surpass the U.S. definition of spaceflight (50 mi (80.47 km)), but fall short of the Kármán line (100 km (62.14 mi)), the definition used for FAI space recordkeeping.