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What happened to the space shuttles?
The space shuttle program was retired in July 2011 after 135 missions, including the catastrophic failures of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 that killed a total of 14 astronauts.
Is the space shuttle still in space?
Discovery was the first of the three active Space Shuttles to be retired, completing its final mission on March 9, 2011; Endeavour did so on June 1. The final shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, closing the 30-year Space Shuttle program.
Why was the space shuttle shut down?
While reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Columbia broke apart, killing the entire crew. All of these factors — high costs, slow turnaround, few customers, and a vehicle (and agency) that had major safety problems — combined to make the Bush administration realize it was time for the Space Shuttle Program to retire.
What is Space Shuttle never flew in space?
An early Space Shuttle Orbiter, the Enterprise , never flew in space but was used for approach and landing tests at the Dryden Flight Research Center and several launch pad studies in the late 1970s.
What Space Shuttle was destroyed in flight?
Space Shuttle Challenger. The orbiter was launched and landed nine times before breaking apart 73 seconds into its tenth mission, STS-51-L, on January 28, 1986, resulting in the death of all seven crew members, including a civilian school teacher. It was the first of two shuttles to be destroyed in flight, the other being Columbia, in 2003.
What Space Shuttles are still in service?
The remaining three space shuttles, Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis, are now museum pieces, as is the test orbiter Enterprise. Having seen some of these vessels in person, I can attest that they…
Is the Space Shuttle the first ‘spaceship’?
The Space Shuttle is the world’s first reusable spacecraft, and the first spacecraft in history that can carry large satellites both to and from orbit. The Shuttle launches like a rocket, maneuvers in Earth orbit like a spacecraft and lands like an airplane.