User:Razr Nation/List of Space Shuttle orbiters



The Space Shuttle Orbiter was the orbital spacecraft of the Space Shuttle program operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the space agency of the United States. The orbiter was a reusable winged "space-plane", a mixture of rockets, spacecraft, and aircraft. This space-plane could carry crews and payloads into low Earth orbit, perform on-orbit operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider, returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth. The Shuttle was originally conceived of and presented to the public in 1972. When the concept of the U.S. space station evolved into that of the International Space Station, which suffered from long delays and design changes before it could be completed, the service life of the Space Shuttle was extended several times until 2011 when it was finally retired.

A total of six Orbiters were built for flight, and all were built by Rockwell International. The first Orbiter to fly, Enterprise, took its maiden voyage in 1977. It was built solely for unpowered atmospheric test flights and landings, while the remaining Orbiters were built for orbital space flights, as part of the full Space Shuttle package. Enterprise was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing. Columbia was the first Orbiter to launch into space as a Space Shuttle, in 1981. In 1986, Challenger was destroyed in an accident after launch. Endeavour was built as Challenger replacement, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry. Atlantis completed the last ever Shuttle flight, STS-135, on July 21, 2011.