The main mission of the space shuttle program was to provide transportation for both astronauts and supplies, to and from the international space station. There were several other missions as well.
The main difference is that a manned Mars mission is a great deal longer.
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UUUHH...it's called a "space shuttle" main engine...why do you think?
The three main parts of a space shuttle is the orbiter, the cone, and the wings.
The main advantage of the space shuttle is its ability to be re-used. This provides for quick turnarounds for launches.
The space shuttle is a reusable spacecraft. It has 3 main engines powered by liquid fuel which are used to launch it into orbit with help from similarly reusable solid fuel boosters (the white rockets along the side of the shuttle during launch). When returning after a mission, the space shuttle is unpowered and glides back for a landing. See related question.
the shuttle system has three parts: the orbiter(or space shuttle), external tank, and two solid rocket boosetsr
Applo Space shuttle Challenger
The main engines.
The Orbiter Maneuvering System or OMS are two small engines (smaller then the Space Shuttle Main Engines) that allow the orbiter to lower or raise its orbit during a mission. It is also used to slow the orbiter down for re-entry.
There is over 37 million horsepower in a Space Shuttle. This amount of horsepower is forced through all of the three Space Shuttle main engines in under 25 seconds.
Most of the movement, the orbiting of the shuttle around Earth, comes from the launch which gets the shuttle up to over 17,000 miles per hour. While in orbit, astronauts use the the shuttle's reaction control system to make adjustments to the shuttles orbit. The main engines are used again at the end of the mission to slow the shuttle down allowing the Earth's gravity to the rest of the work to bring the shuttle and astronauts back to the ground.