Space Shuttle

1981.

So it can glide back to earth and land like and airplane.

The space shuttle is not capable of leaving low earth orbit, a rocket like what the Apollo missions used (although much bigger) would be required.

There have have been two catastrophic ones: Challenger, and Columbia. Challenger had a damaged O-ring on one of the SRBs (solid rocket booster) which led to the explosion of the liquid fuel tank and the destruction of the shuttle just over a minute after launch. Columbia broke apart on re-entry due to a damaged heat shield tile which was struck by a piece of insulation on take-off.

Spacecraft make use of jet propulsion.

April 14th, 1981.

Skylab was the precursor of the present International Space Station. It was a space station launched by NASA on May 14, 1973, and remained in orbit until July 11, 1979.

Enterprise: The prototype that never went to space.

Columbia: First shuttle launched to orbit, STS-1. Destroyed STS-107 after a piece of foam broke off the external fuel tank, and smashed a hole in the wing. The sad thing is all they would have had to do to catch the damage is an EVA outside of the cargo bay.

Challenger: Second shuttle launched to orbit, STS-6. Exploded STS-51-L just after launch. Several ranking engineers advise that the launch be canceled, but military and public relations refused to scrub the launch. The engineers who tried to warn NASA about the danger were promptly fired for whistle-blowing. When the crew compartment was recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the Florida coast, they found that at least 3 of the 7 crew actually survived the explosion, and the subsequent crash, and had drowned. They suffered extreme burns, numerous broken bones, injuries caused by explosive decompression of the cabin (altitude was over 10 miles at the blast), and massive shock trauma from the impact with the water at over 300 mph. There's no way they were conscious, and there wouldn't have been any way to help them.

Discovery: First launch STS-41-D. Launched the Hubble Space Telescope, STS-31.

And Endeavor: First launched STS-49.

manas marvan ka shok h salo ko. Marva die na sare. Ujadva die ghar. The prps was to kill them 7 prsn away from earth.

A space probe is an unmanned device that is sent into space for purposes of exploration. The space shuttle is a manned vehicle meant for research and delivering supplies, equipment, and people into low-Earth orbit.

The Space Shuttle External Tank carries about 1,449,813 liters of liquid hydrogen fuel and about 541,314 liters of liquid oxygen as its oxidizer. In total, it carries about 1,991,127 liters of liquid propellant for the Space Shuttle Main Engines.

17,500 miles per hour puts the shuttle in orbit. BUT the gravity is still there. I'm fact there is about 90% of the gravity while the shuttle is on the ground. That great rate of speed is required to keep the shuttle from falling back to earth. At that speed the shuttle is basically falling around the planet.

17,500 mph

To test Space Shuttle Columbia and make sure everything worked as planned.

Although it reaches incredible speeds, a Space Shuttle is not going fast when it enters the atmosphere. The gravitational pull of Earth, or just gravity, are pulling down on the space shuttle with immense force.

At a quarter mile from the launch pad the measured decibels were 160 to 170, far beyond the pain threshold for humans of 120 to 130 decibels. There are even louder events on Earth, e.g. a blue whale under water 188 decibels, a 1-ton TNT bomb at 250 feet even 210 decibels; directly above the epicenter of a 5.0 Richter scale earth quake 235 decibels; finally the famous Tunguska meteor of 1908 estimated at 300 (comparable to a 1000-Megaton bomb). The decibels scale is logarithmic, which means each increase in 10 constitutes a doubling of intensity.

All spacecraft returning to Earth, space shuttle or otherwise, experience extreme heating as they go through the upper levels of atmosphere. The shuttle orbiters used ceramic tiles and other heat protection. Capsules such as Soyuz, Dragon and Orion use heat shields which direct heat away from the vehicle.

The names of the 6 American Space Shuttles were Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.

I'm assuming you're talking about Challenger in 1986. Space Shuttle Challenger did not explode. It's right SRB exploded because it's O-ring failed because of the 27 F degree weather on the launch pad.

So what could've been done to prevent it? Not launch it.

Space Shuttle Columbia

a space shuttle is re-usable

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. Each of the three Space Shuttle orbiters now in operation -- Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour -- is designed to fly at least 100 missions. So far, altogether they have flown a combined total of less than one-fourth of that.

Image left: The components of the Space Shuttle system: Orbiter, External Tank, and Solid Rocket Boosters. Photo Credit: NASA

Columbia was the first Space Shuttle orbiter to be delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in March 1979. Columbia and the STS-107 crew were lost Feb. 1, 2003, during re-entry. The Orbiter Challenger was delivered to KSC in July 1982 and was destroyed in an explosion during ascent in January 1986. Discovery was delivered in November 1983. Atlantis was delivered in April 1985. Endeavour was built as a replacement following the Challenger accident and was delivered to Florida in May 1991. 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.

The Space Shuttle consists of three major components: the Orbiter which houses the crew; a large External Tank that holds fuel for the main engines; and two Solid Rocket Boosters which provide most of the Shuttle's lift during the first two minutes of flight. All of the components are reused except for the external fuel tank, which burns up in the atmosphere after each launch.

The longest the Shuttle has stayed in orbit on any single mission is 17.5 days on mission STS-80 in November 1996. Normally, missions may be planned for anywhere from five to 16 days in duration. The smallest crew ever to fly on the Shuttle numbered two people on the first few missions. The largest crew numbered eight people. Normally, crews may range in size from five to seven people. The Shuttle is designed to reach orbits ranging from about 185 kilometers to 643 kilometers (115 statute miles to 400 statute miles) high.

The Shuttle has the most reliable launch record of any rocket now in operation. Since 1981, it has boosted more than 1.36 million kilograms (3 million pounds) of cargo into orbit. More than than 600 crew members have flown on its missions. Although it has been in operation for almost 20 years, the Shuttle has continually evolved and is significantly different today than when it first was launched. NASA has made literally thousands of major and minor modifications to the original design that have made it safer, more reliable and more capable today than ever before.

Since 1992 alone, NASA has made engine and system improvements that are estimated to have tripled the safety of flying the Space Shuttle, and the number of problems experienced while a Space Shuttle is in flight has decreased by 70 percent. During the same period, the cost of operating the Shuttle has decreased by one and a quarter billion dollars annually -- a reduction of more than 40 percent. At the same time, because of weight reductions and other improvements, the cargo the Shuttle can carry has increased by 7.3 metric tons (8 tons.)

In managing and operating the Space Shuttle, NASA holds the safety of the crew as its highest priority.

the external tank, solid rocket boosters, and the orbiter, which most people refer to as the shuttle. The shuttle is the whole thing, when all three are together at one.

Space Shuttle Discovery.

Space Shuttle Columbia, Discovery, and Atlantis launched in 1990. Endeavour was still under construction at this time.

Here they are in order;

STS-32 - Columbia

STS-36 - Atlantis

STS-31 - Discovery

STS-41 - Discovery

STS-38 - Atlantis

STS-35 - Columbia