Columbia in flight. [Courtesy of NASA]

The Space Shuttle was the world’s first reusable space vehicle.

The revolutionary nature of the Space Shuttle lies not only in its ability to be reused but to move cargo in two directions; prior to the development of the Space Shuttle, satellites and other cargo could be sent into orbit, but could not be retrieved and returned.

Through its reusability, the Shuttle was also intended to provide low-cost, frequent access to space. Unfortunately, the Shuttle has never been able to fly often enough to bring launch costs significantly down. NASA continues to look at ways to improve the Shuttle and to explore new methods of repeatedly launching humans into space safely.

View of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) end effector over an Earth limb with a solar starburst pattern behind it. [Courtesy of NASA]

The Space Shuttle was approved as a national program in 1972. North American Rockwell’s Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey was awarded the contract to design and build the Space Shuttle Orbiter in July of that year. The contract included responsibility for integration of all of the system elements of the Space Transportation System (NASA’s name for the overall space shuttle program).

Part spacecraft and part aircraft, the space shuttle required many technological advances, and development continued throughout the 1970s.

The Space Shuttle system consists of four primary elements: an orbiter spacecraft, two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB), an external tank to house fuel and oxidizer and three Space Shuttle main engines.

STS-107 Shuttle Mission Imagery [Courtesy of NASA]

The Space Shuttle program introduced several new tools to the business of space flight. For instance, the Remote Manipulator System (“Canada Arm”), 50-foot crane built by the Canadian Space Agency and designed to mimic the human arm, is able to move large and heavy payloads in and out of the Shuttle’s 60-foot long cargo bay. The Spacelab module, built by the European Space Agency, provides a pressurized and fully equipped laboratory for scientists to conduct experiments ranging in subject matter from astronomy to materials science to biomedical research. The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) backpack allows space-walking astronauts to “fly” up to several hundred meters from the orbiter with no connecting tether.

Columbia was the first orbiter to make a flight into space, launching on April 12, 1981. Also referred to as OV-102, for Orbiter Vehicle #102, Columbia is named after the Boston, Massachussets-based frigate under the command of Robert Gray. Launched in 1836, the Columbia and her crew were one of the first Navy ships to circumnavigate the globe.

Columbia was also the name of the Apollo 11 Command Module which carried Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin to the moon for the first lunar landing, July 20, 1969.

The Empty Weight of the Space Shuttle Columbia was 158,289 lbs at rollout and 178,000 lbs with main engines installed.

On Columbia’s 28th mission, STS-107, on February 1, 2003, the crew and vehicle were tragically lost during re-entry.

Additional Resources

• Space Shuttle Interactive Tour
• Columbia and Neurolab Virtual Tour
• Columbia Accident Investigation Reports and Information
• President Bush’s Address on the Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy
• NASA STS-107 Crew Memorial and NASA Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew
• Shuttle Launch Schedule
• Shuttle Tracking
• Kennedy Space Center

The STS-107 crew, clockwise from top: Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Commander Rick Husband, Mission Specialists Laurel Clark and David Brown, Pilot Willie McCool, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon and Payload Commander Michael Anderson. [Courtesy of NASA]