Browse Items (19 total)
Sort by:
Space Shuttle Discovery Launch for STS-103
The Space Shuttle Discovery launched on mission STS-103 from Pad 39B at John F. Kennedy Space Center, to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The nighttime is a spectacular backdrop to the beginning of the mission. The Space Shuttle was meant as a…
Space Shuttle Discovery Launch for STS-95
The Space Shuttle Discovery launching for STS-95 mission from Launch Pad 39B at John F. Kennedy Space Center, in Merritt Island, Florida, with research payloads. The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the traditional ballistic…
View of the Moon from Earth's Orbit
The Moon seen through the edge of Earth's atmosphere from a Space Shuttle in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the traditional ballistic rockets used to launch manned spacecraft in the 1960s and 1970s.…
Solid Rocket Motor, Qualification Motor-6 Static Test
As a result of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, primary contractor Morton Thiokol redesigned the solid rocket boosters for the shuttle. This photograph features a static test of the redesigned rocket booster for flight qualification and was…
Space Shuttle Columbia Lifts Off Into Space
The Space Shuttle Columbia launching from Launch Complex 39A at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Merritt Island, Florida. The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the traditional ballistic rockets used to launch manned spacecraft…
Space Shuttle Discovery Launch for STS-26
For the STS-26 mission, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Launch Pad 39B at John F. Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, with the main objective to deploy the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-C). The Space Shuttle was meant…
Space Shuttle Atlantis Returning to Earth After Its First Mission
The Space Shuttle Atlantis touching down at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California after its initial mission. The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the traditional ballistic rockets used to launch manned spacecraft in the 1960s…
Space Shuttle Columbia Launch
The launch of Space Shuttle Columbia from Launch Pad 39A at John F. Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-9 on November 28, 1983. Also known as STS-41A and Spacelab 1, STS-9 was the first flight carrying the European Space Agency's (ESA) Spacelab. The…
Space Shuttle Discovery Launch for STS-26
For the STS-26 mission, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Launch Pad 39B at John F. Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, with the main objective to deploy the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-C). The Space Shuttle was meant…
Space Shuttle Atlantis Returning to Earth After Its First Mission
The Space Shuttle Atlantis touching down at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California after its initial mission. The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the traditional ballistic rockets used to launch manned spacecraft in the 1960s…
Space Shuttle Columbia Launch
The launch of Space Shuttle Columbia from Launch Pad 39A at John F. Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-9 on November 28, 1983. Also known as STS-41A and Spacelab 1, STS-9 was the first flight carrying the European Space Agency's (ESA) Spacelab. The…
Space Shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A
On the evening prior to its maiden flight (STS-41D) on August 30, 1984, Space Shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Merritt Island, Florida. The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the…
Space Shuttle Enterprise on Launch Pad 39A
The Shuttle Enterprise being taken via crawler-transporter to John F. Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A for a facilities verification test. Enterprise was not used for space flight, but rather for a series of landing tests after being flown to…
Space Shuttle Enterprise Landing at Dryden Flight Research Center
The Space Shuttle Enterprise landing at Dryden Flight Research Center (present-day Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Palmdale, California. Enterprise was not used for space flight, but rather for a series of landing tests after being flown to…
Crew 1 and Crew 2 with Space Shuttle Enterprise
The first two crews for the Space Shuttle Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Tests. Photographed, from left to right, are Crew 1 Pilot C. Gordon Fullerton (1946-2013), Crew 1 Mission Commander Fred Haise (1933-), Crew 2 Mission Commander Joe…
Boeing 747 Transporting the Space Shuttle Columbia
The Space Shuttle Columbia, the first operational Space Shuttle, landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility of John F. Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, atop a Boeing 747 transport airplane. The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable…
Space Shuttle Launch
The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the traditional ballistic rockets used to launch manned spacecraft in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1981 to 2011, when the fleet was retired, five shuttles were flown over 130 times. It was the…
Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Test
After the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, many systems were upgraded to return the Space Shuttles to flight. As part of those upgrades, the main engines were redesigned and then tested by a static firing at John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock…