Space Shuttle
For those who are just coming into adulthood and anyone else coming into awareness of the first moon landing, they will obviously be doing so after the fact and getting most of their information from secondhand sources. They also might tend to judge historical events by modern terms, or at the very least, think in anachronistic terms when it comes to prior aeronautic endeavors. In particular, the supposition might be made by those individuals that the space shuttle program was always in effect since the first rocket NASA sent into space. Nevertheless, this line of thinking would be erroneous. Manned space shuttle missions did not start until the 1980’s, and so distinctions must be made between the spacecraft of the past and the forms of space travel of newer generations, especially with NASA’s announcement that 2010 would mark the last year that any space shuttle missions would take place. Thus, in looking both forward and back, we must consult our dictionaries and other reference books as to what differentiates the soon-to-be outmoded shuttle technology of today from more general rocket technology as interpreted by scientists and romanticizing writers alike.
One element of a rocket that may cause it to be thought of as not necessarily equivalent to a space shuttle is the manner in which it is used. An object may qualify as a rocket if it employs combustible materials that, with the combination of energy, produces gases that act upon its and propel it through the air with decided velocity. Rockets under these parameters may come to encapsulate space shuttles, as this explains their movement through space, but devices that are much simpler and more accessible can also satisfy the definition. Very simple tubes full of powder and lighted by a short fuse can be considered rockets, or those contained in terrestrial weaponry. Quite simply, a rocket does not have to go into outer space to be labeled as one.
As for what elements go into the construction and operation of a space shuttle and why not all rockets may be considered space shuttles, this mode of space travel is characterized for particular structural features. A space shuttle consists of three major parts. Of course, the orbiter is a critical component, as it is the piece of the shuttle that is in all cases reusable and houses the astronauts through the launch, re-entry and everything in between. As for what is responsible for creating the necessary for thrust to escape Earth’s gravity, there are two other components included that either detach from the orbiter or are otherwise expendable. Two solid rocket boosters propel the craft and drop off, and an external fuel tank also is part of the equation and is filled with liquid propellants. So, anything used prior to the late 70’s and beyond would be considered a rocket, and anything since, thus far, would be filed under “space shuttle”.
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