Space Shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A

Space Shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A

Space Shuttle Discovery

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Merritt Island (Fla.)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.)

NASA

Space Shuttle Program (U.S.)

Space Shuttle Discovery

Discovery (Spacecraft)

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 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 first space launch system that was mostly reusable, as the shuttles themselves and the solid rocket boosters were reused multiple times. Space shuttles were launched from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) and Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Merritt Island, Florida.

Original color photographic print, August 29, 1984: Leonard Pugh Collection.

1984-08-29

Digital reproduction of original color photographic print, August 29, 1984.

Florida Space Coast History Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

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1 color photographic print

Still Image

John F. Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida

Donation

History Teacher

Civics/Government Teacher

Geography Teacher

Copyright to this resource is held by Leonard Pugh and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.

Michlowitz, Robert

Cepero, Laura

"The Shuttle." National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Accessed August 21, 2015. http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/the_shuttle/.

1 color photographic print