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During that time period the fleet logged 1,322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds of flight time. [2] The longest orbital flight of the Shuttle was STS-80 at 17 days 15 hours, while the shortest flight was STS-51-L at one minute 13 seconds when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart during launch.
STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program.The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on April 12, 1981, [1] and returned on April 14, 1981, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times.
Non-launch costs account for a significant part of the program budget: for example, during fiscal years 2004 to 2006, NASA spent around $13 billion on the Space Shuttle program, [19] even though the fleet was grounded in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster and there were a total of three launches during this period of time. In fiscal year ...
STS-61-C was the 24th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh mission of Space Shuttle Columbia.It was the first time that Columbia, the first space-rated Space Shuttle orbiter to be constructed, had flown since STS-9.
The original intention was to compensate for this lower payload by lowering the per-launch costs and a high launch frequency. However, the actual costs of a Space Shuttle launch were higher than initially predicted, and the Space Shuttle did not fly the intended 24 missions per year as initially predicted by NASA. [52] [22]: III–489–490
A successful deorbit burn and re-entry ended with Discovery landing at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility for the final time on March 9, 2011, at 11:58:14 EST. The shuttle was retired at wheel-stop. It was the final shuttle landing to occur in daylight, the remaining two missions landed at night.
The Shuttle and station crews spent the day transferring cargo, and resting in preparation for Monday's departure of Discovery. Nespoli and Melroy spent some time in the morning speaking to the Italian media, and later in the day the crew had some off-duty time. Following the traditional farewell ceremony, the hatches were closed at 20:03 UTC. [97]
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is seen on launch pad 39A at the NASA Kennedy Space Center shortly after the rotating service structure was rolled back on November 15, 2009. Final launch preparations commenced at Pad 39A with technicians closing Atlantis' payload bay doors during the morning hours on November 13, 2009.