Similar
Related
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – STS-127 crew members gather at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A for a question-and-answer session with the media. At left is Commander Mark Polansky, introducing the other astronauts, who are, from left, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra, Chris Cassidy and Dave Wolf. Payette represents the Canadian Space Agency. In the background is the fixed service structure with the solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank attached to space shuttle Endeavour. The crew is at Kennedy for a launch dress rehearsal called the terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT, which includes emergency egress training and equipment familiarization. Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission is the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex on the International Space Station. Endeavour's launch is targeted for June 13. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2009-3403
Summary
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – STS-127 crew members gather at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A for a question-and-answer session with the media. At left is Commander Mark Polansky, introducing the other astronauts, who are, from left, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra, Chris Cassidy and Dave Wolf. Payette represents the Canadian Space Agency. In the background is the fixed service structure with the solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank attached to space shuttle Endeavour. The crew is at Kennedy for a launch dress rehearsal called the terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT, which includes emergency egress training and equipment familiarization. Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission is the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex on the International Space Station. Endeavour's launch is targeted for June 13. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.
Tags
Date
Location
Source
Copyright info
