Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is the most complex machine ever built. Both a true marvel of engineering and a workhorse, it is one of the most storied and unique space-faring vehicles to date. With over 135 missions, it was humanity’s first reusable spacecraft, and brought hundreds of astronauts, scientists, and researchers to space.

It was fundamental in deploying, repairing, and recovering countless research and communication satellites, and allowed crews to conduct invaluable experiments and research that have changed the world as we know it. It was responsible for deploying the Great Observatories: Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and for deploying the interplanetary probes, Magellan to study Venus, Galileo to study Jupiter, and Ulysses to study the Sun.

It was essential in the construction of the International Space Station, allowing humans to have a continuous presence in space for almost 20 years and counting!

Not only was the Shuttle important for science and education, but for humanity. The Shuttle brought together astronauts from all over the world (Russia, Germany, Canada, France, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, India, Ukraine, Spain, Israel, Sweden, United States). The program brought the first African American astronaut into space, Guion Bluford; the first American woman into space, Sally Ride; the first African American woman into space, Mae Jemison; and the oldest person in space, John Glenn at 77.