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A Guide to Search Results for "Space Shuttle" help - feedback - sponsor this guide The search term "space shuttle" saw a rapid increase as news spread about the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia during its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003. The Columbia was NASA's second space shuttle. The Enterprise came first, but it was built as a test vehicle and was not equipped for space flight. After the Enterprise completed thirteen test flights, the Columbia became the first shuttle to fly into space on April 12, 1981, followed by the Challenger on April 4, 1983, the Discovery on August 30, 1984, the Atlantis on October 3, 1985, and the Endeavor on May 7, 1992. After completing nine successful missions, the Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after being launched on January 28, 1986. Despite the two catastrophic failures of the Challenger and the Columbia, the shuttle program has demonstrated the viability of reusable spacecraft over a period of more than two decades. NASA has completed over 100 successful shuttle missions since 1981, lifting a variety of payloads into orbit as well as providing a platform for satellite retrieval and repair and a unique laboratory environment for scientific research. Meanwhile, the engineering challenges involved in space travel have created a number of spinoff technologies. NASA's space shuttle program is not the only program of its kind. The former Soviet Union developed a fleet of Buran space shuttles, one of which flew into orbit exactly once at 6pm Moscow time on November 15, 1988 during an umnanned flight and returned to the Earth at 9:44pm. The Buran-Energia program ran out of funds in 1993, and the two Buran shuttles that had been completed became the property of Kahzakstan after the breakup of the former Soviet Union. In addition to the mothballed Kahzakstan shuttles, there is a private company in the United States which is developing a smaller space shuttle to take tourists into sub-orbital expeditions for three to five minutes of weightless flight.
Are you looking for official "space shuttle" information from NASA?
Official information about NASA's Space Shuttle Program is distributed over several subdomains on the official NASA Web site as well as various other Web domains that have been acquired by NASA and its partners. Are you looking for official information about the history of NASA's "space shuttle" program?
No less official than the information indexed in the section above, the information indexed in this section and found on the official NASA Web site is best seen in a static, historical context. Are you looking for official information about specific NASA "space shuttle" projects?
Just as official as the information in the two preceding sections, the information indexed in this section is not as comprehenisive. Rather, it is presented in the context of a particular aspect of NASA's space shuttle program.
Are you looking for scientific research on the "space shuttle?
Are you looking for independent coverage of NASA's "space shuttle" program?
A number of private individuals and organizations provide independent coverage of NASA's space shuttle program. This can take the form of news reports, independent commentary, and third party content indexing, such as the third party content indexing provided by the document that you are reading at this moment.
Are you looking for NASA Web sites featuring "space shuttle" content for children?
Are you looking for other Web sites that feature "space shuttle" content for children?
Are you looking for information about tracking "space shuttle" flights and transmissions?
Are you looking for photographs and images of the Earth taken from the "space shuttle"?
Are you looking for computerized models of the "space shuttle"?
Are you looking for information about "space shuttle" programs other than NASA's?
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