The dawn of a new space age broke over Cape Canaveral just after 7:00 a.m. on April 12, 1981, as a fireball brighter than the Florida sun rose into a clear sky carrying the United States’ first reusable spacecraft. The blast off knocked down several hundred feet of wire fence, blew apart a camera near the launch pad, hurled away public address speakers and seared grass within a mile. Its rumble shook buildings three miles away. Yet to Space Shuttle Commander John W. Young and Pilot Robert L. Crippen, the lift-off felt "as smooth as glass", like "riding a fast elevator". Columbia returned Americans to space after a six-year absence.

The idea for the Space Shuttle originated in 1969, just a few months after the first manned landing on the Moon. The Shuttle, a manned, multipurpose, orbital launch space plane, was designed to carry payloads of up to 65,000 pounds (29,484 kg) and up to seven crew members and passengers. The upper part of the spacecraft, the orbiter stage, has a theoretical lifetime of perhaps 100 missions.  The winged orbiter could make unpowered landings on returning to Earth. Because of the shuttle’s designed flexibility and its planned use for satellite deployment and the rescue and repair of previously orbited satellites, its proponents saw it as a major advance in the practical exploitation of space.

At times, the Space Shuttle is a platform from which to observe major events on Earth, such as storms, floods, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes and forest fires. It is also a laboratory for scientific experiments. Astronomical observations are free from distortion caused by the Earth’s atmosphere. What’s more, physical and life science research experiments are conducted in a state of zero-gravity.

On a standard mission, the Shuttle is launched into low Earth orbit where it remains for seven days. During that time, the crew carries out its assigned tasks. Then the main part of the spacecraft, the orbiter, returns to Earth. Within a month, the orbiter is repaired and refitted and made ready for another flight.

The three main units of the Space Shuttle are the orbiter, the external tank(ET) and the solid rocket boosters.

The orbiter is the main part of the shuttle. Stretching 121 feet long (36.9 m), with a wing span of 79 feet (24.1 m), it is about the size of a DC-9 airliner. It carries a crew of two to seven astronauts, and a payload of up to 65,000 pounds (29,484 kg). Before it is fueled, the craft weighs about 150,000 pounds (68,039 kg).

About 31,000 heat-protection tiles cover the outside of the orbiter. The tiles act as a shield during the Shuttle’s return to Earth when the temperature reaches +2,700^o F (1,482^oC).   They also protect the craft from the temperature differences in space, which range from +400^o F (204^oC) when the Sun’s rays strike the orbiter to -330^o F (-201^o C) when it is shaded by the Earth. These tiles are quite remarkable. They can be glowing red hot on the outside, yet be cool enough to touch on the inside.

The crew’s living quarters are at the very front end of the orbiter. The top level is the flight deck. Here are located the controls and displays needed to operate and monitor all the orbiter’s various flight, communication and life-support systems. There is seating for up to four crew members on the flight deck.

The mid deck contains a living area with additional seating and a toilet. On this level, too, is the galley, or kitchen, where the astronauts’ food is prepared. Nighttime accommodations consist of sleeping bags that are either attached upright to the wall or lie flat in horizontal compartments. When you are weightless, it doesn’t matter if you are upright or horizontal. Astronauts who are not zippered into these bags actually float about the cabin while asleep.

To get to the payload bay, the astronauts must pass through the airlock found at the rear of the mid deck. All the equipment necessary for keeping a comfortable environment in the cabin, a temperature that lets the astronauts work in shirtsleeves, is found on the bottom deck.

The giant payload bay, 60 feet (18.3 m) long and 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter, is situated behind the crew quarters. It is big enough to house the largest unmanned satellite or a complete space lab unit. The payload bay area is covered by doors that are closed during launch and landing, but usually remain open while the Shuttle is in orbit.

The three huge liquid-fuel rocket engines at the extreme rear of the orbiter are used only for launch. Each one has a thrust of 470,000 pounds. Forty-six smaller rocket engines at various points around the outside of the craft are used to make mid-flight adjustments or come out of orbit. They vary in power, producing anywhere from 251 pounds to 6,000 pounds of thrust.

The orbiter’s main engines are powered by fuel that is carried in the external tank(ET). The 1 1/2 million pounds of liquid hydrogen (the fuel) and liquid oxygen (the oxidizer) are kept in the ET. The oxidizer is necessary, since the fuel cannot burn in space without oxygen.

The two booster rockets hold a solid fuel that is different than the liquid fuel used for the orbiter’s engines. The solid fuel is made up of 1.1 million pounds of aluminum powder (the fuel) and ammonium perchlorate powder(the oxidizer). The mixture looks and feels like the white eraser at the end of your pencil.

At launch, both the orbiter’s main engines and the solid rocket boosters provide the thrust that lifts the Space Shuttle off the pad. After only two minutes, the solid rocket fuel is all burned up and the two empty rocket shells separate from the orbiter. Parachutes open and carry the rocket shells slowly down to a landing in the Atlantic Ocean, about 160 miles (257.5 km) east of Kennedy Space Center. Later, they are restored and used again.

The Space Shuttle has been an impressive addition to the world's spacecraft.

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