CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) is ready for flight on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey and Pilot Eric Boe will fly the modified Gulfstream II business jets to mimic the shuttle's handling during the final phase of landing. Practice landings are part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), which provides each shuttle crew and launch team an opportunity to participate in various simulated activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training at the launch pad. Space shuttle Discovery and its STS-133 crew will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. For more information on the STS-133 mission, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller KSC-2010-5093

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LEAR JET AIRPLANE ARRIVAL AT NASA LEWIS RESEARCH CENTER

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a Shuttle Training Aircraft prepares to take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility. STS-130 Commander George Zamka and Pilot Terry Virts are practicing landing the aircraft in preparation for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission. The Shuttle Training Aircraft is a Gulfstream II jet, modified to handle like the space shuttle. The crew members of Endeavour's upcoming mission are at Kennedy for training related to their launch dress rehearsal, the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The primary payload on STS-130 is the International Space Station's Node 3, Tranquility, a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the station's life support systems. Attached to one end of Tranquility is a cupola, a unique work area with six windows on its sides and one on top. Endeavour's launch is targeted for Feb. 7. For information on the STS-130 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts130/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2010-1321

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Two shuttle training aircraft, or STAs, wait to taxi onto the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility. STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly and Pilot Charlie Hobaugh are each piloting one of the STAs for landing practice. The practice is part of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, activities that include a simulated launch countdown. The STA is a Grumman American Aviation-built Gulf Stream II jet that was modified to simulate an orbiter's cockpit, motion and visual cues, and handling qualities. In flight, the STA duplicates the orbiter's atmospheric descent trajectory from approximately 35,000 feet altitude to landing on a runway. The STS-118 mission is the 22nd flight to the International Space Station and is targeted for launch on Aug. 7. The mission payload aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour includes the S5 truss, a SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3. NASA/George Shelton KSC-07pd1932

Capt. Gershwyn Caruth, 459th Airlift Squadron assistant

A right side view of a C-20A aircraft from the 99th Military Airlift Squadron, its white-painted surfaces tinted gold by the setting sun, in-flight near the base. The C-20A, built by Gulfstream Aerospace, is a modified Gulfstream III that serves as a staf

A couple of airplanes sitting on top of an airport tarmac Airport aircraft field, transportation traffic.

Jack Pfaller KSC-2010-5093

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) is ready for flight on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey and Pilot Eric Boe will fly the modified Gulfstream II business jets to mimic the shuttle's handling during the final phase of landing. Practice landings are part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), which provides each shuttle crew and launch team an opportunity to participate in various simulated activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training at the launch pad. Space shuttle Discovery and its STS-133 crew will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. For more information on the STS-133 mission, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Space Shuttle Program

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.