A picture of a Space Shuttle (Courtesy to Microsoft Encarta for this photograph.)

Space shuttles are multipurpose, reusable vehicles that transport humans into orbit around the Earth. It was built to hold up to seven people with a payload of 30,000 kg (65,000 lbs.) The shuttle itself can make a theorized 100 missions and when it lands, it requires no extra energy. Most people and NASA found this a giant step in space exploration.

The saga of the space shuttle started on April 12, 1981 with the space shuttle Columbia. It was the first test launch for space shuttles, and the Columbia had no payload for testing purposes. That launch was a success and NASA conducted a couple more test launches. On the fifth launch, which was between November 11 to 16, 1982, the Columbia launched two commercial satellites into the orbit. The space shuttle saga also included the first woman in space, Sally Ride, and many successful launches.

Unfortunately in January 28, 1986, a terrible thing happened. The space shuttle Challenger exploded a few minutes after the launch. All seven of the crew members onboard died. These crew members included: pilot Michael J. Smith, mission specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, and Ronald E. McNair, Judith A. Resnik, payload specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe, and commander Francis R. Scobee. Christa McAuliffe was a school teacher that was part of a civilian program by NASA. What happened was that there was a broken sealant ring so one the solid state boosters hit the main liquid hydrogen and oxygen tank. This caused the explosion that killed the seven crew members. After the Challenger explosion, all launches were halted until September 29, 1988.

Click here to continue on to the next lesson (Satellites).
Click here for a printable version of this page.