National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASAfacts

Space Shuttle Era Facts

NASA’s shuttle fleet achieved numerous firsts and opened 

up space to more people than ever before during the Space 

Shuttle Program’s 30 years of missions.

The space shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation 

System (STS), began its flight career with Columbia roaring off 

Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida 

on April 12, 1981. 

That first mission verified the combined performance of 

the orbiter vehicle (OV), its twin solid rocket boosters (SRBs), 

giant external fuel tank (ET) and three space shuttle main 

engines (SSMEs). It also put to the test the teams 

that manufactured, processed, launched and 

managed the unique vehicle system, which consists 

of about 2 1/2 million moving parts.

The orbiter, most commonly referred to as 

the space shuttle, is the only part of the shuttle 

“stack” that makes the trek into orbit. Its boosters 

are jettisoned into the Atlantic Ocean, retrieved 

and reused. The external tank is the only part of 

the stack not used again. Instead, it re-enters the 

atmosphere about nine minutes after launch and 

burns up over the Pacific Ocean. When the shuttle 

returns to Earth, it does not land under parachutes 

as NASA’s Apollo capsules that preceded it. Instead, 

it returns by gliding back on a pair of wings to a 

runway on Earth.

As the world’s first reusable spacecraft to carry humans 

into orbit, the shuttle possesses a 60-foot-long payload bay 

and robotic arm that can carry several satellites into low Earth 

orbit on one flight, service them and even bring them back 

for future use. The shuttle fleet, which was designed to reach 

orbits ranging from about 115 to 400 miles high, also routinely 

carried whole laboratories into orbit for unique experiments. It 

also was called on to build the International Space Station (ISS), 

the largest spacecraft ever, which was assembled in orbit. 

Shuttle costs

For Fiscal Year 2010, the average cost to prepare and 

launch a shuttle mission was approximately $775 million. 

Shuttle Endeavour, the orbiter built to replace shuttle Challenger, 

cost approximately $1.7 billion to build. The life of the shuttle 

program has cost $113.7 billion. (Not adjusted for inflation)

Shuttle History

Each space shuttle is named after influential ships of 

science and exploration. All were built in Palmdale, Calif., by 

Rockwell International.

Enterprise was the first space shuttle, although it never 

flew in space. It was used to test critical phases of landing and 

other aspects of shuttle preparations. Enterprise was mounted 

on top of a modified 747 airliner for the Approach and Landing 

Tests in 1977. It was released over the vast dry lakebed at 

Edwards Air Force Base in California to prove it could glide and 

land safely.

Columbia, OV-102, was named after a sloop captained 

by Robert Gray, who on May 11, 1792, maneuvered his ship 

through dangerous inland waters to explore British Columbia 

and what are now the states of Washington and 

Oregon. Columbia was the first shuttle to fly into 

orbit on STS-1. Its first four missions were test 

flights to show that the shuttle design was sound. 

Astronauts operated the robotic arm and put all the 

flight systems through evaluation phases during the 

test flights. Columbia deployed numerous satellites 

and operated several times as a laboratory in space 

during its missions and was the only shuttle to land 

at White Sands Space Harbor, in Las Cruces, N.M. 

Columbia and its seven astronauts were lost 

Feb. 1, 2003, when it broke apart during re-entry on 

its 28th mission, STS-107.

Challenger, OV-099, was named after the 

British Naval research vessel HMS Challenger that 

sailed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during the 

1870s. Challenger was the second operational shuttle and 

made its first flight, STS-6, on April 4, 1983. Challenger hosted 

missions that saw astronauts take the first-ever spacewalks with 

jetpacks, including the first mission to pull a satellite out of orbit, 

fix it and return it to service. Challenger and its seven astronauts 

were lost Jan. 28, 1986, when a seal on one of its boosters 

failed and hot gas burned through the external tank, igniting the 

propellants and causing the shuttle to break up in the resulting 

explosion. That flight, STS-51L, was Challenger’s 10th mission.

BY THE NUMBERS

Length:

Space shuttle: 184 feet 

Orbiter: 122 feet

Height: Orbiter on runway, 

57 feet

Wingspan: 78 feet

Gross liftoff weight* 

(system stack)

 4.5 million pounds

Velocity: About 17,500 mph

Payload bay: 

Length - 60 feet; 

Diameter - 15 feet 

Thrust, solid 

rocket booster:

2.9 million pounds

Orbit: About 115 to 

400 miles

* weight will vary depending on payloads and onboard consumables
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

www.nasa.gov

NASA Facts FS-2011-7-142-KSC 

Discovery, OV-103, was named after one of the two ships used by 

the British explorer Captain James Cook when he discovered Hawaii and 

explored Alaska and northwestern Canada in the 1770s. Discovery was the 

third operational shuttle and made its first flight, STS-41D, in August 1984. 

Discovery has flown more than any other shuttle with 39 missions under its belt. 

Discovery’s noteworthy career also includes both Return to Flight missions after 

the Challenger and Columbia accidents. Discovery deployed NASA’s Hubble 

Space Telescope, which has altered the way we see and think of our universe. 

Discovery was the first space shuttle retired from NASA’s fleet, following its 

STS-133 mission to the ISS in February/March 2011.

Endeavour, OV-105, was named by students in elementary and 

secondary schools across the nation after a ship chartered to traverse 

the South Pacific in 1768. Endeavour was the last space shuttle built and 

was ordered to replace Challenger. The shuttle made an immediate imprint 

on space history in May 1992 during its first mission, STS-49. Three 

spacewalking astronauts made the unprecedented effort to grab an orbiting 

satellite with their gloved hands and pull it into Endeavour’s cargo bay so 

it could be repaired and re-launched from the shuttle. Endeavour also 

accomplished the first repair mission to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, 

basically giving the telescope contact lenses so it could peer to the farthest 

edges of the universe. Endeavour was the second shuttle to retire after its 

successful 25th mission, STS-134, which delivered the Alpha Magnetic 

Spectrometer-2 (AMS) to the ISS in May/June 2011.

Atlantis, OV-104, was named after the primary research vessel for the 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts from 1930 to 1966. 

Atlantis was the fourth operational shuttle and made its first flight, STS-51J, on 

Oct. 3, 1985. The shuttle sent probes to Venus and Jupiter and carried NASA’s 

Destiny laboratory to the International Space Station. Atlantis also served as the 

final shuttle servicing mission, STS-125, for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. 

STS-135 will mark the 33rd mission and final flight for Atlantis. This also will be 

the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program. 

Shuttle Astronauts

Following STS-134

The first and second person to fly on the shuttle were John Young and 

Bob Crippen.

355 individual fliers have flown on NASA’s space shuttles.

There have been 848 total shuttle fliers (852 including STS-135 crew).

People representing 16 different countries have flown on shuttle flights.

306 men and 49 women have flown aboard shuttles.

Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she flew 

aboard Challenger on STS-7, in 1983.

The youngest person to travel in space was Sultan bin Salman bin 

Abdul-Aziz Al Saud (28 years, 11 months, 21 days), who flew on shuttle 

Discovery in 1985, on STS-51G.

The oldest person to travel in space is John Glenn, 77, who flew on 

shuttle Discovery’s STS-95 mission in 1998.

Story Musgrave is the only astronaut to have flown on all five shuttles.

Astronauts Jerry Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz have flown the most 

shuttle missions with seven each.

By STS-134 mission designation, Mike Fincke was the final first-time 

flier on the shuttle. The entire STS-135 crew has flown on shuttles before.

Shuttle Miles Flown (through STS-134)

NASA’s space shuttles have traveled 537,114,016, making 

20,952 Earth orbits.

Space Shuttles by the Numbers (through STS-134)

2 – Smallest crew size, on missions STS-1 through STS-4.

2 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes, and 12 seconds – length of 

Columbia’s STS-2 flight, the shortest completed mission to date. 

7 – Payloads retrieved, repaired, then re-deployed, which are not 

accounted for in the deployed/returned numbers below.

8 – Largest crew size, on STS-61A and on STS-71’s return from 

Russian space station Mir.

9 – Shuttle dockings with Mir.

17 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes, and 18 seconds – Length of 

Columbia’s STS-80 flight, the longest completed mission to date. 

25 tons – Weight of the heaviest spacecraft deployed, NASA’s Chandra 

X-Ray Observatory on STS-93. 

36 – Shuttle-ISS Dockings. 

55 – 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ferry flights to Kennedy’s Shuttle 

Landing Facility (SLF). 

77 – Shuttle landings at the SLF. 

81 – Launches from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A; 53 from Pad 39B.

Miles Traveled – 537,114,016 through 134 flights 

Columbia 121,696,993 (28 flights, including STS-107) 

Challenger 23,661,290 (10 flights, including STS-51L) 

Discovery 148,221,675 (39 flights, through STS-133) 

Endeavour 122,883,151 (25 flights, through STS-134) 

Atlantis 120,650,907 (32 flights, through STS-132)

Time In Space – 1,320 days, 1 hour, 32 minutes, 

44 seconds through 134 flights 

Columbia 300 days, 17:40:22 (28 flights, including STS-107) 

Challenger 62 days 07:56:22 (10 flights, including STS-51L) 

Discovery 365 days (39 flights, through STS-133) 

Endeavour 299 days (25 flights, through STS-134) 

Atlantis 293 days, 18;29;37 (32 flights, through STS-132)

Earth Orbits – 20,952 through 134 flights 

 Columbia 4,808 (28 flights, including STS-107) 

 Challenger 995 (10 flights, including STS-51L) 

 Discovery 5,830 (39 flights, through STS-133) 

 Endeavour 4,671 (25 flights, through STS-134) 

 Atlantis 4,648 (32 flights, through STS-132)

Total Crew – 848 (852 including STS-135 Crew) 

 Columbia Total fliers: 160 

 Challenger Total fliers: 60 

 Discovery Total fliers: 252 

 Endeavour Total fliers: 173

 Atlantis Total fliers: 203 (through STS-132)