What space shuttle has been to the moon the most?

Answer 1

Shuttles with Most Moon Trips (they are tied, with 'zero')Space shuttles are not capable of reaching the Moon. They only enter Earth orbit and then return to the Earth. Even if one could reach and land on the Moon, it would be stranded there, as it would not be able to escape the Moon's gravity without a fuel tank and rocket boosters like those used to launch them from Earth. How we got to the moonAll six manned flights to the moon were made in Apollo spacecraft from 1969 to 1972. These were smaller than the shuttle, but still required huge rockets to reach space. Each left Earth orbit, coasted to the moon, orbited there and sent down a lander, then returned (again coasting most of the way). But as they went, they discarded most of the rocket engines and spacecraft sections, returning with only their small 3-man crew capsule and some rock samples. It is enormously difficult and costly to move large spacecraft and their fuel into orbit. Once there, however, the frictionless vacuum of space makes transits to other planetary bodies relatively easier to initiate.

NASA plans to return to the moon using a new series of rocket launchers, and to establish a permanent base there. A manned mission to Mars is part of the same plan, under a project called Orion. (article is on Wikipedia)