space shuttle

Reusable crewed spacecraft developed by NASA to reduce the cost of using space for commercial, scientific, and military purposes. The orbiter, the part that goes into space, is 37.2 m/122 ft long and weighs 68 tonnes. The prototype, Enterprise, was first flown on 12 August 1977. The first true shuttle, Columbia, was launched on 12 April 1981. After leaving its payload in space, the space shuttle can be flown back to Earth to land on a special runway 4.5 km/2.8 mi long and 91 m/300 ft wide, and is then available for reuse.

Four space shuttles were built initially: Columbia, Challenger, first launched on 4 April 1983, Discovery on 30 August 1984, and Atlantis on 3 October 1985. The rocket boosters were redesigned after Challenger was destroyed in a mid-air explosion in 1986, killing its seven astronauts. Flights resumed in September 1988. A replacement orbiter, Endeavour, was built, making its first flight in May 1992. The break-up of Columbia on re-entry on 1 February 2003 killed all seven astronauts aboard. NASA then halted all flights and established the Columbia Accident Investigation Board which recommended 15 safety changes. The first subsequent flight of a shuttle, Discovery, took place on 26 July 2005. When the flights were halted, there had been 113 shuttle flights.

The USSR produced Buran, a shuttle of similar size and appearance to the US one. It was launched on its first and only flight, without a crew, by the Energiya rocket on 15 November 1988. The Buran programme was abandoned almost immediately, and the craft that had flown into orbit was destroyed by the collapse of its hangar in 2002. Another craft, intended for test purposes, has been put on display in Australia and Bahrain. There is no prospect of returning Buran to service.