| SpaceCAD The Space Shuttle Historical Overview |
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The idea for the Shuttle began in the 1930's when Eugen Sanger came up with the idea of a recyclable rocket plane that could carry a crew of people. As early as the 1950's the United States began detailed proposals for some sort of space transportation that could be reused. Several of these proposals reached the design and test stages in the 1960's. Problems in the 1970's related to budget and design difficulties led to a smaller and more efficient design. |
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The very first Shuttle to enter space was the Shuttle "Columbia". The launch occurred on April 12 of 1981. It was on this day that the orbiter "Columbia" along with astronaut John W. Young, who served as the commander, and Robert L. Crippen, who served as the Shuttle's pilot lifted off from pad A, complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center. "Columbia" was the first of 24 launches from pad A. Not only was "Columbia" the first Shuttle to be launched, but was also the first to utilize solid fuel rockets. The primary objectives given to "Columbia" were to check out the overall Shuttle system, accomplish a safe ascent into orbit, and to return back to earth for a safe landing. All objectives in this mission were completed successfully. |
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In July of 1982 the Shuttle "Challenger" was added to NASA's space fleet of reusable winged spaceships. The Shuttle "Challenger" performed 9 successful missions. Then, on January 28, 1986, the "Challenger" and its 7 courageous crew members were lost 73 seconds after liftoff when a booster failure resulted in a deadly explosion of the vehicle. The 7 crew members who died in this fatal accident were: Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Commander, Michael J. Smith, Pilot, Judith A. Resnik, Mission Specialist, Ronald E. McNair, Mission Specialist, Ellison S. Onizuka, Mission Specialist, Gregory B. Jarvis, Payload Specialist, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, School Teacher. |
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On January 16, 1998, NASA revealed that U.S. Senator John Glenn, who 36 years earlier was the first American to orbit the earth, would fly again on October 29th, 1998. John Glenn would serve as a payload specialist, participating in experiments to study the connection of weightlessness and the aging process. Glenn once again made history by being the oldest man ever to go into space, he was 77 years old. |
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To learn more about the Space Shuttle and John Glenn just follow these links:http://wilmette.newtrier.k12.il.us/wilmette/SpaceNet/Shuttle.html |
