Space Shuttle Program
While many instances of NASA launch may be immediately memorable to the American citizen who has lived through the Space Race and into the modern age, one of the most prominent would have to be the Apollo missions designed for lunar landing and analysis. However, in terms of being a space shuttle launch, to insist that, say, the Apollo 13 mission was just that would be to commit an error. While we might think the terms interchangeable after almost 30 years of manned space shuttle launch events – after all, time may cause one to forget – not every rocket launched by NASA has been a space shuttle. In fact, the first manned space shuttle did not take off until the 1980’s, well after Neil Armstrong’s world-famous romp on the surface of the moon. The space shuttle program is merely a subcategory of the general NASA launch heading.
Including non-operational flights, the space shuttle program has been in gear for even longer than 30 years. Using the Enterprise model of orbiter, tests were conducted in the late 70’s to get a feel for how the space shuttle performed when attached to a space shuttle carrier and later in missions of free flight. It was not until the premiere space shuttle launch of the Columbia class in 1981 that an actual NASA launch of a space shuttle with engines (and thus the physical ability to leave Earth’s atmosphere) was realized. Since that beginning, over 100 space shuttle launches have been tallied by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The missions have had a variety of durations. Of course, some barely got off the ground and some never made it back to the Earth, in the case of the Challenger and Columbia disasters, respectively, but others have lasted close to a fortnight or longer.
Just as soon as some of us are becoming familiar with the idea that the space shuttle program has not been in place since the start of manned missions to space, we must look ahead to a new brand of NASA launch and new challenges. While it may have garnered the attention of some, it is likely unknown by a majority of Americans that the space shuttle launch program will be ending after 2010. The last space shuttle launch is scheduled to take place in September of this year; of course, the actual date is subject to change as mechanical errors and weather conditions incompatible for flight can delay the time of launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of these remaining flights essentially is to provides modules and other materials to add to the International Space Station until shortly before its scheduled completion. Going forward, as noted, this will not be the end of the NASA launch. New manned spacecraft are envisioned to coincide with new destinations such as Mars and new missions, namely colonization attempts.
The space shuttle program, meanwhile, will continue to be remembered. While the disasters of 1986 and 2003 may stick out like sore thumbs, the image of the space shuttle with all its components is an enduring one.
