RS-25 upgrade versions were denoted as Block I and Block II. Before the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969, NASA began early studies of space shuttle designs. Early missions brought the The payload bay comprised most of the orbiter vehicle's The orbiter could be used in conjunction with a variety of add-on components depending on the mission.
The Air Force expected to use the Space Shuttle to launch large satellites, and required it to be capable of lifting 29,000 kg (65,000 lb) to an eastward LEO or 18,000 kg (40,000 lb) into a NASA reviewed 29 potential designs for the Space Shuttle, and determined that a design with two side boosters should be used, and the boosters should be reusable to reduce costs.On June 4, 1974, Rockwell began construction on the first orbiter, OV-101, which would later be named The beginning of the development of the RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engine was delayed for nine months while NASA experienced significant delays in the development of the Space Shuttle's On January 5, 1979, NASA commissioned a second orbiter. The test flights only had two members each, the commander and pilot, who were both qualified pilots that could fly and land the orbiter. After they established the need for a reusable, heavy-lift spacecraft, NASA and the Air Force determined the design requirements of their respective services.
109% thrust level was achieved with the Block II engines in 2001, which reduced the chamber pressure to 207.5 bars (3,010 psi), as it had a larger The Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) consisted of two aft-mounted The orbiter was protected from heat during reentry by the thermal protection system (TPS), a The Space Shuttle external tank (ET) carried the propellant for the Space Shuttle Main Engines, and connected the orbiter vehicle with the solid rocket boosters. The SpaceX Crew Dragon in the process of docking to the International Space Station The Spacelab equipment was primarily stored in pallets, which provided storage for both experiments as well as computer and power equipment.Three RS-25 engines, also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME), were mounted on the orbiter's aft fuselage in a triangular pattern. NASA's space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on April 12, 1981 and continued to set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions. In the late 1950s, the Air Force began developing the partially reusable Beginning in the early 1950s, NASA and the Air Force collaborated on developing In September 1966, NASA and the Air Force released a joint study concluding that a new vehicle was required to satisfy their respective future demands, and that a partially reusable system would be the most cost-effective solution.In December 1968, NASA created the Space Shuttle Task Group to determine the optimal design for a reusable spacecraft, and issued study contracts to After the release of the Space Shuttle Task Group report, many aerospace engineers favored the Class III, fully reusable design because of perceived savings in hardware costs. The Space Shuttle program was extended several times beyond its originally envisioned 15-year life span because of the delays in building the A $2.5 billion spending provision allowing NASA to fly the Space Shuttle beyond its then-scheduled retirement in 2010 passed the Congress in April 2009, although neither NASA nor the White House requested the one-year extension.Out of the five fully functional shuttle orbiters built, three remain.
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The SRBs were assembled and attached to the external tank on the MLP. STS-77 Launches – May 19, 1996.
Astronauts entered the Spacelab module through a 2.7 m (8.72 ft) or 5.8 m (18.88 ft) tunnel that connected to the airlock. NASA History.