Originally the Space Shuttle was designed without Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's). In the original designs, the Shuttle was only made up of two main pieces. The orbiter section of the Shuttle was similar to todays Shuttles. The External Tank (ET), however was designed different. It was still mounted on the bottom of the orbiter, but it was equipped with wings and its' own crew.
The Shuttle was to lift-off in the conventional fashion. After it reached a certain height the ET would disconnect from the orbiter and then land on the run way provided. This design would have been alittle safer, but it was too expensive to construct. So, NASA went with the current design and was to spend the bucks on missions.With the new design on blueprints, NASA suggested that if the Space Shuttle flew 30 times a year it would pay of itself in a matter of no time. NASA would later find that 30 Shuttle flights a year was too lofty of a goal. NASA would barely make a third of that number in a year. It wasn't a total loss, the Shuttle would complete many flights and make several accomplishments over the years. To read about some of the accomplishments that the Shuttle has made over the years grab this link 1ST SHUTTLE MISSIONS
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