Space Shuttle Retrospective: the End of an Era

To this day, I recall the first time I heard about NASA's space shuttle program. It was in the 1970s and I was in grade school reading Scholastic Magazine. An article discussed NASA's future plans for reusable space shuttles. The first shuttle, the article said, was to be named Columbia, but the name was changed to Enterprise after the famed starship of the television series Star Trek. The idea of space shuttles that would regularly fly back and forth into outer space sparked my imagination and, to me, signified the beginning of the road to making space travel a commonplace occurrence.

The Beginnings of Commonplace Space Flight

It is more than 30 years later, and there are only five shuttle flights left as of this writing. From STS-1 to the upcoming STS-134, the space shuttle program will have carried men into space more than 130 times since the first of NASA's space shuttle launches launch in 1981. Space flight is still not commonplace, although a handful of multi-millionaire space tourists have been allowed to visit the International Space Station (ISS).

Tragedy Strikes Shuttle Program

During that time, there have been two tragic accidents as shuttle crews were killed as a result of the in-flight destruction of the Columbia and the Challenger. The accidents highlighted the dangers of space flight even with advanced craft like the space shuttles, and also reminded us of the bravery of those astronauts who risk their lives to further human understanding of the not only outer space, but of the Earth as well.

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

The first accident on shuttle flight STS-51L shook our faith in the shuttle program, as America watched the Challenger explode and break apart in the sky during launch on January 28^th, 1986. This flight was notable before the accident as Concord, NH high school teacher Christa McAuliffe was the first participant in the NASA Teacher in Space Program. Other crew members of the Challenger were Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, and Gregory Jarvis. The explosion was attributed by NASA to fuel leaks that ignited, caused by O-ring failures in the right booster engine.

Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster

More than 50 safe space shuttle flights took place before the Columbia was destroyed during reentry of NASA's mission STS-107. This time, says NASA, the destruction was due to damage to the heat shield tiles on the underside of the Columbia caused by the impact of debris during launch. The tiny hole in the tiles allowed the extremely hot gases that build up around the shuttle during entry to gain entry inside the wing where enough damage was done to destroy the shuttle. Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, David Brown, Laurel Blair Salton Clark, Michael P. Anderson, Ilan Ramon, and Kalpana Chawla.

NASA Space Shuttle Mission STS-31 Deploys Hubble Space Telescope

Despite the two tragic space shuttle losses, NASA's shuttle program has a record of many triumphant successes as well. Among the missions that stand out in memory for me is the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope by the crew of the space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-31. The orbital Hubble Space Telescope has given scientists their clearest view of deep space objects and helped us to grow our understanding of the mysteries of deep space, from quasars to powerful star destroying black holes.

NASA's Space Shuttles Help Build the International Space Station

Another memorable accomplishment of the space shuttle program is the delivery of modules and supplies for the building of the International Space Station. The International Space Station has become an important space-based platform for experiments requiring microgravity. NASA lists important contributions in the fields of health, materials for industrial applications, and biology. The ISS is also a platform for detailed observations of Earth which improve our understanding of weather patterns, ocean currents, and global warming.

The Future of Manned Spaceflight

NASA's Strategic Plan for Future of U.S. Human Space Flight states that the program to replace the space shuttles, called the Constellation Program, is "seriously underfunded" and the plan could result in a five year gap in U.S. human spaceflight activities if the space shuttle program is retired as planned in 2010. In this document, NASA recommended an extension of the shuttle program as a bridge to the Constellation program to preserve human space flight operations from the U.S. Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and others are working toward building private space vehicles. Although most of these commercial vehicles are not being designed with the capability of reaching full earth orbit and could never visit the ISS, they are the precursors of more advanced vehicles in the coming decades that will have greater abilities.

Sources:

science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/columbia.html

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-51L.html

www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mcauliffe.html

history.nasa.gov/columbia/index.html

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-31.html

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_assembly.html

hubble.nasa.gov/

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/Summary.htmlwww.nasa.gov/doc/382032main_020%20-%2020090707.01.Outline%20Strategic%20Plan%20for%20Future%20of%20U.S.%20Human%20Space%20Flight.doc