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The Space Shuttle Program - The Post-apollo Vision, Space Shuttle Design And Development, Space Shuttle Flight Profile, Space Shuttle Program Organization

It will revolutionize transportation into near space, by routinizing it.

—President Richard Nixon, January 5, 1972

The space shuttle was supposed to make space travel a routine and frequent occurrence. Its conceivers envisioned shuttles regularly transporting humans and cargo back and forth between the Earth and a fleet of orbiting space stations. The shuttle was expected to be much cheaper than previous spacecraft, because it would be reusable. This would mean low operational and maintenance costs and a quick turnaround time between flights. It was predicted to bring in lots of money by hauling satellites into space for paying customers. The shuttle was going to be part of a massive transportation system and open up space the way the railroad opened up the frontier of the Old American West.

This vision never became a reality. Shuttle flights did not become routine, common, or frequent. Over the twenty-three-year period from 1981 through 2003, space shuttles flew only 113 times, averaging less than five flights per year. Two shuttles exploded, killing fourteen crewmembers. In addition to the human cost, the program experienced high operational and maintenance costs. Long turnaround times prevented the shuttle from flying frequently. The flights that were made did achieve many accomplishments. They put probes and observatories into space and were essential for building the International Space Station.

Nevertheless, many people believe that America has wasted too much time and money on a shuttle program that does not deliver what it promised. In January 2004 President George W. Bush announced his own vision for the nation's space program. It focuses on trips to the moon and Mars and calls for ending the shuttle program by 2010. The dream of routine access to space remains an elusive one.

Additional Topics

The Space Shuttle Program - The Post-apollo Vision

In the early 1960s NASA planners envisioned a space station program as the next step after Apollo. It was assumed that the United States would establish large space stations in orbit around Earth and possibly outposts on the moon. In fact, NASA hoped to put at least one twelve-person space station in Earth orbit by 1975. This would require a new type of reusable space plane to carry cargo and pers…

The Space Shuttle Program - Space Shuttle Design And Development

Various space shuttle designs had been evolving since the 1950s. The U.S. Air Force had examined several options based on a reusable manned space plane that could be maneuvered in flight and glided to a landing. The best-known program was called DynaSoar (short for Dynamic Soaring). The DynaSoar concept included an expendable launch vehicle to carry a space plane out of Earth's atmosphere. …

The Space Shuttle Program - Space Shuttle Flight Profile

The ten panels of Figure 4.5 illustrate the major steps in a space shuttle flight from launch to landing. TABLE 4.1 Space shuttle statistics The countdown to launch begins approximately four days before lift-off. During this time numerous systems checks are conducted on the spacecraft and its components. The flight crew is taken to the orbiter approximately 2.5 hours prior to lift-off and …

The Space Shuttle Program - Space Shuttle Program Organization

The Space Shuttle Program (SSP) is administered and operated by NASA, with the help of thousands of contract employees. Figure 4.8 shows the locations of key NASA and contractor facilities involved in the SSP. Strategic management of the program is handled at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. This is where major decisions are made about future missions. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in H…

The Space Shuttle Program - Space Shuttle Missions

On April 12, 1981, Columbia became the first shuttle to fly into space. The flight's purpose was to test the shuttle's systems, and the mission lasted only two days. It was considered a huge success. Three more test flights were conducted during 1981 and 1982, all with the orbiter Columbia. On July 4, 1982, President Ronald Reagan announced that shuttle testing was completed. The nex…

The Space Shuttle Program - The Columbia Accident

Immediately after the Columbia disaster, President Bush appointed a panel to investigate what happened. The panel was called the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) or the Gehman Board. In June 2003 the CAIB released its report. The CAIB concluded that the most likely cause of the accident was a damaged thermal protection tile on the orbiter's left wing. Video clips of the launch s…

The Space Shuttle Program - What Has The Space Shuttle Program Accomplished?

A historical summary of all space shuttle missions conducted as of February 2004 is presented in Table 4.5. NASA refers to each shuttle flight using an STS number. The STS stands for Space Transportation System. Thus, STS-1 was the first shuttle flight into space. NASA assigns numbers to space shuttle flights in the order in which they are planned (or manifested). There is typically a period of se…

The Space Shuttle Program - The Future Of The Space Shuttle Program

As of July 2004 the space shuttle fleet remained grounded. NASA hoped to conduct the next flight in late 2004. Plans for STS-114 call for the orbiter Atlantis to fly to the ISS and deliver a module and platform for the station. This "Return to Flight" mission would also test new on-flight systems and procedures incorporated after the Columbia accident. NASA, as of 2004, had thirty-th…

The International Space Station - Early Visions Of A Space Station, The American Skylab, Soviet And Russian Space Stations, An International Effort [next] [back] Space Organizations Part 2: U.S. Military, Foreign and Private - U.s. Military Space Programs, Space Agencies Around The World, Russia, Europe

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