Space Shuttle Orbiter

HSGWA-10730

Exactly 20 years after Soviet Major Yuri Gagarin, who famously declared "The Earth is blue," aboard Vostok 1, which achieved the first successful manned space flight, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) launched the Space Shuttle Columbia from the Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981.

Following the successful manned landing of Apollo 11, public interest in space exploration rapidly waned, and criticism arose regarding the enormous costs involved. In response, NASA devised the Space Shuttle program, a space transportation system that could repeatedly travel between Earth and space at a low cost by abandoning the conventional, expensive, disposable launch rockets. This program was approved in November 1972.

The Space Shuttle consists of an orbiter, an external fuel tank, and two solid-fuel rockets.
The orbiter can carry up to seven crew members and up to 29,500 kg of cargo. After being launched by the rockets and completing its work in space, it re-enters the atmosphere and
glides back down. After being inspected and serviced, it heads back into space again. The two solid-fuel rockets are also recovered from the ocean after crashing and reused.
The Space Shuttle's missions include the installation, repair, and recovery of artificial satellites, the development of solar thermal power plants, the manufacture of alloys and pharmaceuticals utilizing the properties of space, the construction of the International Space Station and colonies, and military applications.

《Aircraft Data》
=Orbiter=
Length: 37.24m
Wingspan: 23.79m
Height: 17.27m
Weight: 96,163kg (during landing)
Main engine thrust: 170,000 x 3
Maximum crew: 7