Displaying items by tag: Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable launch system and orbital spacecraft operated by the NASA for human spaceflight missions.

The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981 leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. It was used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011 all launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The Space Shuttle at launch consisted of the Orbiter Vehicle (OV), one external tank (ET), and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). The orbiter decelerated in the atmosphere before flying like a glider but with reaction control system thrusters before landing on a long runway.

The final Space Shuttle mission was in July 2011 to deliver parts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. It is the largest center of NASA.

MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program. Marshall is today the agency's lead center for Space Shuttle propulsion and its external tank; payloads and related crew training; International Space Station (ISS) design and assembly; and computers, networks, and information management. Located on the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama, MSFC is named in honor of General of the Army George Marshall.

The center also contains the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC), a facility that supports Space Shuttle launch, payload and experiment activities at the Kennedy Space Center, ISS launch and experiment operations. The HOSC also monitors rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station when a Marshall Center payload is on board.