What is a space shuttle?

 

The space shuttle is a rocket-powered transport that takes astronauts into space orbit and brings them back to Earth. It was developed by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). According to NASA's official website, it made 135 trips between 1981 and 2011.

When it comes to capability, the space shuttle can carry a maximum of 7 astronauts. In addition to astronauts, it also carried satellites to its destination. The transport was also responsible for the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) because it contained the components needed to build it. Each space shuttle's journey, called a "mission," lasts 1 to 2 weeks.

The space transport system (STS) is synonymous with the space shuttle. In addition, the missions performed by these state-of-the-art vehicles were paired with the previous "STS", for example, the STS-129. The transportation system was partially reusable as every major component except the fuel tank could be reused.


Key components of the space shuttle

The space shuttle consists of three major components, each of which serves a specific purpose:


Arbiter: This is the part where the astronauts are kept. It looked like a white plane. It is the only component that leaves the Earth's atmosphere, as the other two are destroyed after use. Interestingly, when the orbiter launches for lift off using a rocket, it returns to the ground, glides on the way back and lands on the runway like an airplane. The orbits used by NASA were Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavor.


Solid Rocket Booster: This pair of rockets used solid propellant to lift the space shuttle above the ground against gravity. These boosters will be separated from the rest about two minutes after launch. The booster will then fall into the ocean from where NASA will retrieve it for another future mission.


Outer tank: The outer tank is a large orange object on the space shuttle. It contained tons of liquid fuel for space orbit engines. This huge tank burns in the Earth's atmosphere after detachment from orbit. Therefore, it became the only part that is not reusable.


Why did NASA retire him?

After more than three decades of central space transport for NASA, the organization retired the space shuttle on July 21, 2011, after the end of its last mission.

There were a number of factors that contributed to this. One big factor was that the cost of a mission, which was about 50 450 million, was too high to be feasible in the long run. Second, the transition time between completing one mission and starting another was longer than expected. The NASA spacecraft took at least 54-88 days to prepare for another mission - far more than previously estimated 1-2 weeks ago.

In addition, there were persistent shortcomings in the safety of astronauts. During its time, the space shuttle suffered two major disasters. The first was the failure of the Challenger launch in 1986, and the other involved Columbia, which shattered after entering the Earth's atmosphere on its way back. The entire crew was killed in both accidents.

Although the space shuttle program effectively ended in 2011, the decision to close was made more or less during the Bush administration. Since retiring from the space shuttle, NASA astronauts have traveled to low-Earth orbit aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

As private space organizations develop in this area, NASA is working on a successor to the STS called the Space Launch System (SLS). The organization called it "the most powerful rocket we've ever built." Improving on its predecessor, it plans to reduce the launch cost to just $ 2 million. According to various sources, the first launch of SLS will be on February 12, 2022.