Space Shuttle Gallery
NASA Administrator Fletcher (left) and President Nixon presenting the Space Shuttle. Image credit: NASA
Enterprise under construction in 1976. Image credit: NASA
Enterprise onboard NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) on its first solo flight as part of the Shuttle program's Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). Image credit: NASA
Astronauts Fullerton, Haise, Engle, and Truly pose in front of Enterprise on the day of its rollout. Image credit: NASA
First landing of Space Shuttle Challenger: the STS-6 landing at Edwards AFB, April 9, 1983. Image credit: NASA
NASA Administrator Fletcher (left) accompanied by several cast members and creator of the TV series Star Trek at Enterprise’s rollout. Image credit: NASA
Kansas astronaut, Joe Engle. Image credit: NASA
Joe Engle’s XMC-2 Spacesuit on display in the Cosmosphere’s X-Plane Gallery.
The first orbital mission of the Space Transportation System lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. Image credit: NASA
Space Shuttle Columbia at Launch Pad 39A in March 1981.
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off with mission STS-27 on December 2, 1988.
Shuttle Atlantis STS-135 final landing.
Space Shuttle Atlantis begins the last mission of the Space Shuttle program. Image credit: NASA
Kansas astronaut, Steven Hawley, PhD, former NASA Astronaut and retired professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas. Image credit: NASA
Astronaut Steven Hawley’s Groucho Marx Disguise. Part of the Cosmosphere’s collection.
The crew of STS-31: Astronaut Loren J. Shriver, mission commander, is at lower left. Astronaut Charles F. Bolden, pilot, floats above. Others, left to right, are Kathryn D. Sullivan, Bruce McCandless II and Steven A. Hawley, all mission specialists. Image credit: NASA
View from space shuttle Discovery upon release of the Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA
STS-51L crew members Michael J. Smith, front row left, Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Ronald E. McNair; Ellison S. Onizuka, back row left, S. Christa McAuliffe, Gregory B. Jarvis, and Judith A. Resnik. Image credit: NASA
The Space Mirror Memorial located at Kennedy Space Center, includes the names of 25 honorees.
STS-107 crew members included astronauts Rick D. Husband (left), mission commander; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; and William C. McCool, pilot. Standing are (from the left) astronauts David M. Brown, Laurel B. Clark, and Michael P. Anderson, all mission specialists; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist representing the Israeli Space Agency. Image credit: NASA
Expedition 59 crew members Christina Koch of NASA (left), Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos (center) and Kansas Astronaut Nick Hague of NASA (right) pose for pictures in front of their Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft Feb. 27, 2019, during pre-launch training. Image credit: NASA
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from Kennedy Space Center with mission STS-107 on January 16, 2003
Space Shuttle Discovery climbs the five percent grade to the top of the hardstand at Launch Pad 39A. Rollout is a milestone for the STS-120 mission to the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA/George Shelton
The Shuttle Gallery at the Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, KS
As space stations developed, it became clear the United States needed a reusable, reliable spacecraft to ferry our astronauts and scientists to and from those bases. The Space Shuttle Transport system grew from that need. Learn how the scientific discoveries of the Space Shuttle Missions and the lessons even from its greatest failures continue to shape the world today.
