orbital launch vehicle
NASA’s space transportation system, retired in 2011, combined a reusable orbiter, an external tank and two solid rocket boosters.
The Space Shuttle launched like a rocket and returned to a runway like an aircraft. Its Rockwell International-built orbiter carried crew and cargo. Three main engines consumed liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the external tank; two solid boosters supplied much of the initial thrust. It was not a conventional stack of two serial rocket stages.
NASA gives a total stack height of 184 feet, approximately 56.08 m, and a liftoff mass on the order of 2,040 tonnes, varying by mission. The approximately 8.4 m diameter refers to the external tank, not the width of the whole vehicle. The solid boosters separated and descended under parachutes for recovery; the external tank was not reused.
The program flew 135 missions between 1981 and 2011. Columbia began flights on 12 April 1981, and Atlantis closed the program with its landing on 21 July 2011. Missions included research, satellite operations and assembly of the International Space Station.
Payload and thrust comparisons require configuration, orbit and flight phase. The old 24,400 kg and 28,200 kN values are archived, not presented as general capabilities verified by this review’s sources.
Context
A guide to researching people connected with space history through NASA’s documentary resources and one ESA archive reference, without confusing...
