Clicking on the Web: History of Space Shuttle program on Astini News
Space exploration has reached some more heights (no pun intended) with the completion of the Space Shuttle program.
The Space Station program has also reached a crescendo of accomplishment.
Let's look back and ahead at what the Space Shuttle and Space Station have meant to all of us.
It has been 30 years since Space Shuttle missions have rated many levels of exploration achievement.
Just last week, the Discovery shuttle vehicle switched places with Endeavour on his preparatory way toward the
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.The shuttle will be on public display there.
Go to the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) website to learn more about what is going on and what has gone on with the United States' Space Shuttle program.
Go to http://telecomadvisors.biz/www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Endeavour will be stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) until October, when it will be moved into OPF-2 to continue being readied for display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles next summer.
Let's go through some of the history of our Space Shuttle flights by reading the website facts:
"NASA's space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on April 12, 1981 and continued to set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions.
"Starting with Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit repeatedly, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station.
"The final space shuttle mission, STS-135, ended July 21, 2011 when Atlantis rolled to a stop at its home port, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"As humanity's first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle pushed the bounds of discovery ever farther, requiring not only advanced technologies but the tremendous effort of a vast workforce.
"Thousands of civil servants and contractors throughout NASA's field centers and across the nation have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to mission success and the greater goal of space exploration."
Here's more on the planned display of space shuttles and their artifacts:
After 30 years of spaceflight, more than 130 missions, and numerous science and technology firsts, NASA's space shuttle fleet will retire and be on display at institutions across the country to inspire the next generation of explorers and engineers.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recently announced the facilities where four shuttle orbiters will be displayed permanently at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle program.
• Shuttle Enterprise, the first orbiter built, will move from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.
• The Udvar-Hazy Center will become the new home for shuttle Discovery, which retired after completing its 39th mission in March.
• Shuttle Endeavour, which is preparing for its final flight at the end of the month will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
• Shuttle Atlantis, which flew the last shuttle mission in June, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex in Florida.
"We want to thank all of the locations that expressed an interest in one of these national treasures," Bolden said.
"This was a very difficult decision, but one that was made with the American public in mind.
"In the end, these choices provide the greatest number of people with the best opportunity to share in the history and accomplishments of NASA's remarkable Space Shuttle Program.
These facilities we've chosen have a noteworthy legacy of preserving space artifacts and providing outstanding access to U.S. and international visitors."
NASA also announced that hundreds of shuttle artifacts have been allocated to museums and education institutions.
• Various shuttle simulators for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum of McMinnville, Ore., and Texas A&M's Aerospace Engineering Department
• Full fuselage trainer for the Museum of Flight in Seattle
• Nose cap assembly and crew compartment trainer for the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio
• Flight deck pilot and commander seats for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston
• Orbital maneuvering system engines for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center of Huntsville, Ala., National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
Learn more information about other shuttle program artifacts that are available to museums and libraries. Go to NASA pamphlet.
Learn more about shuttle heat shield tiles available to schools and universities.
Go to http://telecomadvisors.biz/gsaxcess.gov/NASAWel.htm
Learn more about the Space Shuttle Program. Go to http://telecomadvisors.biz/www.nasa.gov/externalflash/the_shuttle/
Learn more about the Space Shuttle Era: 1981 to 2011. Go to http://telecomadvisors.biz/www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/index.html
Our space shuttles have taken many of our space travelers to the International Space Station.
Learn more about it at http://telecomadvisors.biz/www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
The International Space Station marked its 10th anniversary of continuous human occupation on Nov. 2, 2010.
Since Expedition 1, which launched Oct. 31, 2000, and docked Nov. 2, the space station has been visited by 196 individuals from eight different countries.
The space station, including its large solar arrays, spans the area of a U.S. football field, including the end zones, and weighs 827,794 pounds.
The complex now has more livable room than a conventional five-bedroom house, and has two bathrooms and a gymnasium.
The International Space Station is an unprecedented achievement in global human endeavors to conceive, plan, build, operate, and utilize a research platform in space.
Be amazed by all of the other space exploration being done.
Take a trip to Mars. Go to http://telecomadvisors.biz/www.nasa.gov/
Editor's note: Howard Lestrud is ECM online managing editor.
