The Space Shuttle Enterprise was unveiled to the world on September 17, 1976. Though not designed to fly in space, it would go on to perform atmospheric test flights and provide valuable information for space missions of future orbiters.

From February through November of 1977, NASA astronauts Fred Haise, Gordon Fullerton, Joseph ‘Joe’ Engle and Richard ‘Dick’ Truly took turns testing the new orbiter. The twelve Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) proved the craft could land as a glider, paving the way for the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia and the beginning of the world’s first reusable space transportation system.

On April 12, 1981, Space Shuttle Columbia roared off the pad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The era of the space shuttle officially started with mission Space Transportation System 1, or STS-1.

During their STS-1 mission, Commander John Young and Pilot Bob Crippen completed every mission goal, setting the stage for more shuttle missions. Columbia flew again on November 12, 1981, as Astronauts Joe Engle and Dick Truly became the first humans to fly a previously flown spacecraft.

The early 1980s saw rapid growth in the frequency and scope of the shuttle missions. Commercial satellites comprised over half of the payloads, helping in part, to offset the costs involved in shuttle operations. As more and more orbiting devices were deployed, retrieval and repair of failing satellites became part of the missions. Astronauts captured these malfunctioning machines in dramatic and daring fashion. They either fixed them in orbit or brought them back to Earth for repair.

NASA also began to lay the scientific foundation for advances in life sciences, material sciences, and Earth observation, which led to many advances on Earth. As NASA struggled to meet the high financial and performance goals of the STS program, these scientific advances did not come easy. Despite the addition of orbiters Challenger (1983), Discovery (1984), and Atlantis (1985), launch delays and mission complications prevented the program from advancing as quickly as planned.

Kansas is the proud birthplace of two shuttle astronauts.

Joe Engle, born in Chapman, Kansas, had a long flight history prior to the shuttle. He is best known for his brave piloting of the experimental X-15 aircraft. He joined the Apollo program in 1966, and was scheduled for the Apollo 17 crew, but was replaced by Dr. Harrison Schmitt. He performed many test flights of the Enterprise before piloting Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-2.

Kansas Astronaut Steven Hawley was born in Ottawa, Kansas. He flew five shuttle missions: STS-41D, STS-61C, STS-31, STS-82, and STS-93. Of note is STS-31, when the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed.

After six failed launch attempts on STS-61C, Astronaut Steve Hawley joked that he was the problem, so he wore this Groucho Marx disguise to trick the space shuttle orbiter into allowing the crew to launch.

The disguise worked and the mission launched on January 12, 1986.

On January 28, 1986, the shuttle program suffered its first disaster when the Challenger orbiter exploded shortly after launch. Seventy-three seconds into the flight, hot gas leaking past an O-ring seal on one of Challenger’s twin solid rocket boosters malfunctioned. The entire crew, including the first participant in NASA’s Teacher in Space Program, Christa McAuliffe, perished. The loss of Challenger was a stark and horrifying reminder of the complex and dangerous nature of manned spaceflight.

America’s space program was grounded for thirty months as NASA investigated both the institutional and technical reasons for the disaster. NASA emerged from this tragedy with improved equipment and procedures.

Tragedy struck again on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. During launch, a piece of foam had separated and struck the edge of the left wing creating a large hole and damaging the thermal insulation. Due to this “catastrophic breach,” the wing was torn apart, and Columbia tumbled out of control. None of the seven crew members survived.

The rest of the space shuttle fleet was grounded as an investigation board began looking into the causes of this accident. Following a two-and-a-half-year investigation, NASA developed new equipment, better self-inspection methods and in-flight repair procedures.

Hubble space telescope launched in 1990 on STS-31. When using a telescope on Earth, the images are distorted due to the Earth’s atmosphere. The images Hubble provides are clearer and tell us much more about the universe since it is orbiting above the Earth’s atmosphere. Hubble has been visited by astronauts five times to keep it working; each visit making it more useful to us than the last. 

Hubble has taught us many things about our universe from our own solar system to the deepest regions of our galaxy. Hubble discovered new moons around Pluto and the existence of supermassive black holes. Thanks to Hubble, we can even learn the temperatures of exoplanets. Data from Hubble also guides the New Horizons spacecraft as its team tries to decide its next target.

View more images from Hubble Space Telescope here.

NASA spinoff technology refers to any item or idea originally developed to meet the needs of NASA that is now available in a commercial product or service.

NASA spinoffs affect our everyday lives and have made vast improvements in many fields including health and medicine, transportation, public safety, and information technology.

Over 120 pieces of technology designed during the space shuttle program are still found in our everyday lives. Here are just a few examples of technology we use every day that came from the space shuttle program:

• A tiny pump used in the space shuttle fuel tanks can now be found in the medical industry used to keep critically ill heart transplant candidates alive while waiting for a new heart.

• An improved aerogel insulation used to ensure that the liquid hydrogen stays below -253°C can also be found as insulation in buildings and in the boots of hikers.

• After studying the harmful effects of light in space, scientists created a new type of welding curtain and improved sunglasses.

Discover more NASA Spinoffs here.

The space shuttle program ended in 2011 after a 30-year span of successes and grim failures. Space Shuttle Atlantis flew the final mission in July 2011. Astronauts would continue to go to the International Space Station (ISS) by hitching a ride with the Russians in their Soyuz spacecraft. At the time, no one knew when Americans would once again fly aboard their own spacecraft to work on the ISS.

Going Back to Soyuz

Unlike the space shuttle, the Soyuz spacecraft is not reusable. It can hold three astronauts, compared to the shuttle which had an average crew of 5-7 members. While the shuttle glided down like a space plane, the Soyuz lands on land.

Private spaceflight companies have become major players in the space world. In 2020, eighteen years after founding SpaceX and nine years after the last space shuttle launch, Elon Musk and his team were able to bring America back into the astronaut ferrying business with the launch of its Crew Dragon Endeavour in May 2020. In April 2021, the Crew Dragon Endeavour returned to the ISS for a second time. While the Crew Dragon space vehicle has more of a capsule configuration, it is reusable like the space shuttle.