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space shuttle STS-1
Space Shuttle: ColumbiaLaunch Pad: 39A Launched: April 12, 1981 at 7:00:03 a.m. ESTLaunch Weight: 219,258 poundsLanding Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.Landing: April 14, 1981 at 10:20:57 a.m. PST Runway: 23Rollout Distance: 8,993 feetRollout Time: 60 secondsRevolution: 37Mission Duration: 2 days, 6 hours, 20 minutes, and 53 seconds Returned to KSC: April 28, 1981 Orbit Altitude: 166 nautical milesOrbit Inclination: 40.3 degreesMiles Traveled: 1.074 million -
space shuttle challenger people
broke apart 73 seconds after the flight
Francis R. Scobee – Mission Commander
Michael J. Smith – Pilot
Ellison S. Onizuka – Mission Specialist 1
Judith A. Resnik – Mission Specialist 2
Ronald E. McNair – Mission Specialist 3
Christa McAuliffe – Payload Specialist 1
Gregory B. Jarvis – Payload Specialist 2 -
STS-121
STS-121 was the second return-to-flight mission, demonstrating techniques for inspecting and protecting the shuttle's thermal protection system and replacing critical hardware needed for future station assembly. The mission also restored the station to a three-person crew for the first time since May 2003, leaving ESA astronaut Reiter aboard to join Expedition 13. -
23rd Space Station Flight
Mission Highlights:
During the mission, the STS-120 crew
continued the construction of the station with
the installation of the Harmony Node 2 module and the relocation of the P6 truss.
Station managers added a 360-degree
visual inspection of the station’s starboard
solar alpha rotary joint, or SARJ, during the
second spacewalk. The SARJ had shown
increased friction for more than 30 days -
STS-135
It was a hot July day on Florida's Space Coast as nearly a million spectators gathered along the beaches, rivers and causeways to watch history in the making. The weather forecast was a daunting 70 percent "no-go" to start the day, yet the countdown proceeded smoothly. Just as expectations peaked and launch looked imminent, a last-minute glitch held the clock at T-31 seconds. The issue -- whether the gaseous oxygen vent arm had fully retracted -- was quickly resolved by the experienced team