Explore the interior and exterior of the Atlantis and Endeavour space shuttles, including their flight decks, cargo bays, and other compartments.

View a timeline of NASA's Space Shuttle program, which saw five reusable orbiters take a total of 355 astronauts across a combined distance of almost six trips to the sun.

In honor of scientific exploration, all five launched space shuttles were named after ships that traveled the oceans, but a campaign from 'Star Trek' fans led to the shuttle prototype being named Enterprise.

Take a 360-degree tour of Discovery with Kathryn Sullivan and Charles Bolden, who flew together on the space shuttle during its deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope. (VR device-compatible)

During the Space Shuttle program, NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft—two specially modified Boeing 747s—transported space shuttles between landing sites and launch facilities.

Major milestones of the Space Shuttle program's 135 missions included the launches of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the first American woman and African-American astronauts in space.

Although it drew inspiration from spaceplane concepts of the 1920s, the Space Shuttle program began to take shape after the Space Race, as the US sought to establish a space station and a reusable transportation system for astronauts and satellites.

The Columbia disaster contributed to the end of the Space Shuttle program and NASA's reliance on commercial partners such as SpaceX and Boeing to transport astronauts and cargo.

View a 3D visualization of how space shuttles were built and launched into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Explore what Challenger was supposed to do on its mission

STS-51L's planned seven-day mission included deploying satellites, studying Comet Halley, conducting fluid dynamics experiments, and broadcasting live lessons from orbit—routine scientific and educational tasks that were never carried out after the shuttle was lost shortly after launch.

View a schematic of the space shuttle orbiter, including the layout of the flight deck and mid-deck for astronauts, the cargo bay for payloads, and various support systems, such as avionics equipment and the fuel system.

Most elements of the International Space Station were installed over two decades

Space shuttles delivered storage carriers, docking compartments, airlocks, solar arrays, and labs, which were assembled in low Earth orbit. The station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm, alongside maneuvering spacewalkers, has assisted with this assembly since its installation in 2001.

Space tourism opportunities have been explored since the end of the Apollo era

In the 1970s, Rockwell International, a NASA contractor, and others investigated manufacturing passenger modules that could fit into the Space Shuttle's payload bay. NASA also opened spaceflights to nongovernment professionals, but many such programs were ended after the Challenger disaster, which killed the first Teacher in Space participant.

Watch the lessons Christa McAuliffe was supposed to teach aboard Challenger

After the Challenger disaster prevented McAuliffe from teaching in orbit, educators-turned-astronauts Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold filmed her planned science demonstrations aboard the International Space Station during the 2017-18 school year.

In 2022, a piece of Challenger was discovered on the ocean floor

While searching for World War II wreckage near Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a documentary, divers discovered debris on the seafloor that NASA later confirmed to be a piece of Space Shuttle Challenger wreckage. The piece is at least 15-by-15 feet in size and partially buried under sand.

The Challenger disaster delayed the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

The 1986 explosion of the space shuttle shortly after liftoff killed seven crew members and grounded NASA's space fleet. Scientists used the downtime to refine ground control software and upgrade telescope instrument sensitivity, but maintaining the telescope's clean room storage cost NASA approximately $6M per month.

The Challenger disaster ended NASA's plan to fly ordinary Americans in space

The explosion of the Challenger halted NASA's civilian spaceflight ambitions for decades, including plans to send teachers, journalists, artists, and other nonastronauts into orbit—an effort aimed at building public support that quietly disappeared after the 1986 disaster.

The Columbia disaster exposed fatal flaws in NASA's shuttle program

On Feb. 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The tragedy revealed long-ignored safety warnings, leading NASA to ground the shuttle fleet and overhaul its safety culture.

In 2021 US dollars, space shuttles cost $65,400 per kilogram, making them the most expensive spacecraft for payloads greater than 20,000 kilograms.

The Teacher in Space program was launched in 1984 to highlight spaceflight in US classrooms

Announced by President Ronald Reagan, the program drew more than 11,000 teacher applicants nationwide. Christa McAuliffe was selected to fly on STS-51L, with plans to teach live lessons from orbit before the Challenger disaster ended the mission.

View a gallery of all 135 space shuttle mission patches.

The Challenger disaster grounded the space shuttle fleet for nearly three years, exposed deep flaws in NASA's leadership, and prompted significant changes to the agency's safety oversight and decision-making culture.

Watch the Challenger disaster unfold in real time

On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after liftoff. This live CNN broadcast captures the tragedy as it happened—second by second—showing the shock and confusion of one of NASA's darkest moments.

Aboard Challenger, Christa McAuliffe would have been the first teacher in space

The social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, was selected from over 11,000 applicants to NASA's Teacher in Space program. Had the disaster not ended the mission, McAuliffe planned to teach lessons and conduct microgravity experiments in space.

The unloading and maneuvering of the space shuttle's payload were accomplished by the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System—a robotic arm designed and constructed in Canada, which led to it being colloquially known as the Canadarm.

View 60 years of NASA space exploration

Established in 1958—a year after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has taken humanity into outer space and helped reveal the nature of the universe. Historic moments include the Apollo 11 mission putting humanity on the Moon and construction of the International Space Station.

Watch the Challenger disaster, which killed all seven astronauts aboard, unfold live.

Big Bird was almost included on the Challenger mission

As part of NASA's early outreach ideas tied to the Teacher in Space program, Sesame Street's Big Bird was briefly considered for a Challenger flight, but the plan was dropped because the oversized costume could not fit safely inside the shuttle.

The most common spacewalk spacesuits are over four decades old

NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit has been in use since the 1980s, with 11 units of the model in existence and four in active use on the ISS at any given time. It consists of 11 layers, a primary life support system (which resembles a backpack), a drinking bag, and more.

When retired, the International Space Station will undergo a controlled de-orbit

With plans to transition low-Earth orbit operations to private entities, the ISS is expected to be retired by 2030, using a SpaceX de-orbit vehicle. Although reentry will burn up most hardware, NASA intends for any surviving debris to fall into an uninhabited ocean area.

Judith Resnik was the second American woman to fly in space

A PhD in electrical engineering, Judith "Judy" Resnik flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1984, becoming the second American woman in space, and later served as a mission specialist on Challenger's STS-51L mission.

Intended to last four years, the Voyager spacecraft have lasted nearly five decades

Launched in 1977, the Voyager probes still send data from billions of miles away, guided by engineers who’ve turned down promotions to stay with the mission. The team continues to support the probes as they move 37,000 mph through space.

Between 1993 and 2009, Hubble was serviced for repairs and upgrades 5 times

Across 21 space walks totaling 144 hours, replacement instruments, gyroscopes, solar arrays, batteries, and computer systems have helped extend the Hubble Space Telescope's operational lifetime beyond its planned 15 years.

Gregory Jarvis was an Air Force veteran who flew as a civilian payload specialist on Challenger

A Hughes Aircraft engineer with a background in electrical engineering, payload specialist Gregory Jarvis was assigned to STS-51L to study how fluids and satellite propellants behave in weightlessness during shuttle maneuvers.

View the docket of future SpaceX launches

SpaceX has established an efficient schedule for launches of ISS crew shuttles and Starlink satellites, with blastoffs occurring just under once every four days in 2023—a pace that has since accelerated as the company has won more contracts.

About 2.5 million American students watched the Challenger disaster live

Because of the publicity of the Teacher in Space program, millions of students viewed Challenger's liftoff in school classrooms—turning the explosion into a shared national traumatic experience marked by shock, silence, and grief.

The space shuttle's thermal protection system relied on tiles made of silica aerogels—substances primarily made from sand that are over 90% air by volume and able to withstand temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius (2200 degrees Fahrenheit).

Explore a timeline of the International Space Station National Lab

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan called for establishing a human presence in space, which began with NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev on November 2, 2000. Humans have continuously occupied the ISS every day since.

Voyager spacecraft defied expectations and only powered down after 47 years in space

Originally built for a four-year mission, Voyagers 1 and 2 used a rare planetary alignment and gravity assists to reach interstellar space. With limited power and aging systems, they will continue to send data until the mid-2030s. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

NASA has partnered with several private companies to promote commercial space stations

The retirement of the International Space Station in 2030 has led NASA to refocus its efforts on continuing microgravity research through private partnerships, including the support of multiple commercial space stations' design and development.