Space Shuttle Endeavour
Following the end of the Apollo program, NASA switched its emphasis towards developing a reusable spacecraft for Earth-orbital missions. This was based on USAF research into a "spaceplane," namely the X-20 Dyna-Soar and X-24B. Such a spacecraft would save money, as it would be reusable, and be able to deliver satellites into orbit easier and safer than standard rockets. Launched vertically, it would return to Earth horizontally, and make a standard aircraft-style landing, albeit an unpowered one, as the Orbiter's engines would be out of fuel. As such, the Orbiter part of the Shuttle concept was aerodynamically designed, with a large craft capable of carrying all known satellites at the time; the Orbiter had roughly the same dimensions as the Douglas DC-9 airliner.
Since the Shuttle was an entirely new concept, a number of new technologies needed to be developed. The design ended up being a "stack": the Orbiter itself was attached to an external tank full of fuel for the two booster rockets attached to the sides of the tank. After launch, the boosters would be jettisoned and parachute into the ocean to be recovered and reused; once in orbit, the external tank was jettisoned to burn up on reentry, and the Orbiter entered orbit to complete its mission.
The first Orbiter built was the Enterprise (OV-101), intended as a proof-of-concept demonstrator, with the intent on upgrading it to a fully mission-capable craft later. This was cancelled in favor of upgrading a structural test craft into the third Shuttle, Challenger (OV-099). By this time, the first operational Shuttle mission (STS-1) had been carried out by Columbia (OV-102) in April 1981. Two other Shuttles were subsequently built: Discovery (OV-103) and Atlantis (OV-104). The intent was that four Shuttles would be sufficient, but in January 1986, Challenger was lost, along with all seven astronauts aboard, in a catastrophic explosion.
Following the loss of Challenger, NASA was funded to build a replacement. Initially, it was thought that Enterprise would be brought out of storage and refurbished into a space-capable craft, but this turned out not to be feasible. Instead, a brand-new Shuttle would be built, mainly from spares left over from building Discovery and Atlantis. The new Shuttle, OV-105, was named Endeavour following a nationwide competition; Endeavour honored HMS Endeavour, James Cook's 18th Century exploration ship. (The Shuttle carried a small piece of wood from the original ship in the cockpit during every one of its flights.) It was rolled out in 1991, and would be launched on STS-49 in May 1992.
Endeavour would prove to be the last Shuttle built, and as such was the most advanced of the six: it was equipped with a dragchute to lower the amount of runway needed on landing (which was retrofitted to the surviving Shuttles), upgraded avionics, and the ability to stay in orbit for an entire month--though this feature was never used operationally. After the loss of Columbia in February 2003, Endeavour received another upgrade, with a "glass" multifunction cockpit and GPS navigation system.
Endeavour would end up flying 25 missions; its 25th, STS-134 in May 2011, was supposed to be the last Shuttle mission of all, but Atlantis ended up getting that honor by flying STS-135, which ended up being the last. After retirement, Endeavour was donated to the California Science Center in Los Angeles in 2012. Getting it from Los Angeles International Airport to the Center in downtown took two days and was an odyssey on its own.
We had given some thought to trying to reach Endeavour in 2021, when we visited California, but due to traffic and time constraints, we had to skip it. My friend Darren and I made it the primary objective of the second California trip in June 2023. While I find spacecraft interesting, Darren is a huge space nut, so for him, this was very special. Neither one of us had ever seen a real Shuttle before, only two training mockups in the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington and the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson.
It was worth the wait and the fight through the infamous LA traffic. Endeavour was both larger than I thought it would be (I couldn't fit the entire Shuttle into the shot) and smaller; they seemed huge on television. I was also surprised that the white surface of the Shuttles isn't metal, but quiltlike thermal blankets protecting the structure beneath. Endeavour has been preserved as it looked after returning to Earth for the last time, so it's a little dirty in places, and there are missing tiles underneath the Shuttle. The yellow clamps atop the cargo bay are to hold the doors in place, while those below Endeavour are part of an earthquake dampening device, which is why it is not displayed on its landing gear. Surrounding the Shuttle are interactive displays showing both Endeavour's and the Shuttle Program's history.
This exhibit is actually temporary: the Science Center is working on a much larger, permanent display building next door. This will display Endeavour vertically atop the "stack," with the last remaining mission-capable external tank (which was behind this building, but closed to the public) and two SRBs that were intended as spares. This will indeed be an ambitious display, and it might be worth a return trip!
It's always awe-inspiring to see something that has flown in space, and while I've seen a good number of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules, there was just something special about seeing a real Shuttle. I remember as a kid getting up very early to watch STS-1 lift off, and like most children of the 1980s, I remember when Challenger exploded. This was indeed the high point of a great trip.
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Following the end of the Apollo program, NASA switched its emphasis towards developing a reusable spacecraft for Earth-orbital missions. This was based on USAF research into a "spaceplane," namely the X-20 Dyna-Soar and X-24B. Such a spacecraft would save money, as it would be reusable, and be able to deliver satellites into orbit easier and safer than standard rockets. Launched vertically, it would return to Earth horizontally, and make a standard aircraft-style landing, albeit an unpowered one, as the Orbiter's engines would be out of fuel. As such, the Orbiter part of the Shuttle concept was aerodynamically designed, with a large craft capable of carrying all known satellites at the time; the Orbiter had roughly the same dimensions as the Douglas DC-9 airliner.
Since the Shuttle was an entirely new concept, a number of new technologies needed to be developed. The design ended up being a "stack": the Orbiter itself was attached to an external tank full of fuel for the two booster rockets attached to the sides of the tank. After launch, the boosters would be jettisoned and parachute into the ocean to be recovered and reused; once in orbit, the external tank was jettisoned to burn up on reentry, and the Orbiter entered orbit to complete its mission.
The first Orbiter built was the Enterprise (OV-101), intended as a proof-of-concept demonstrator, with the intent on upgrading it to a fully mission-capable craft later. This was cancelled in favor of upgrading a structural test craft into the third Shuttle, Challenger (OV-099). By this time, the first operational Shuttle mission (STS-1) had been carried out by Columbia (OV-102) in April 1981. Two other Shuttles were subsequently built: Discovery (OV-103) and Atlantis (OV-104). The intent was that four Shuttles would be sufficient, but in January 1986, Challenger was lost, along with all seven astronauts aboard, in a catastrophic explosion.
Following the loss of Challenger, NASA was funded to build a replacement. Initially, it was thought that Enterprise would be brought out of storage and refurbished into a space-capable craft, but this turned out not to be feasible. Instead, a brand-new Shuttle would be built, mainly from spares left over from building Discovery and Atlantis. The new Shuttle, OV-105, was named Endeavour following a nationwide competition; Endeavour honored HMS Endeavour, James Cook's 18th Century exploration ship. (The Shuttle carried a small piece of wood from the original ship in the cockpit during every one of its flights.) It was rolled out in 1991, and would be launched on STS-49 in May 1992.
Endeavour would prove to be the last Shuttle built, and as such was the most advanced of the six: it was equipped with a dragchute to lower the amount of runway needed on landing (which was retrofitted to the surviving Shuttles), upgraded avionics, and the ability to stay in orbit for an entire month--though this feature was never used operationally. After the loss of Columbia in February 2003, Endeavour received another upgrade, with a "glass" multifunction cockpit and GPS navigation system.
Endeavour would end up flying 25 missions; its 25th, STS-134 in May 2011, was supposed to be the last Shuttle mission of all, but Atlantis ended up getting that honor by flying STS-135, which ended up being the last. After retirement, Endeavour was donated to the California Science Center in Los Angeles in 2012. Getting it from Los Angeles International Airport to the Center in downtown took two days and was an odyssey on its own.
We had given some thought to trying to reach Endeavour in 2021, when we visited California, but due to traffic and time constraints, we had to skip it. My friend Darren and I made it the primary objective of the second California trip in June 2023. While I find spacecraft interesting, Darren is a huge space nut, so for him, this was very special. Neither one of us had ever seen a real Shuttle before, only two training mockups in the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington and the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson.
It was worth the wait and the fight through the infamous LA traffic. Endeavour was both larger than I thought it would be (I couldn't fit the entire Shuttle into the shot) and smaller; they seemed huge on television. I was also surprised that the white surface of the Shuttles isn't metal, but quiltlike thermal blankets protecting the structure beneath. Endeavour has been preserved as it looked after returning to Earth for the last time, so it's a little dirty in places, and there are missing tiles underneath the Shuttle. The yellow clamps atop the cargo bay are to hold the doors in place, while those below Endeavour are part of an earthquake dampening device, which is why it is not displayed on its landing gear. Surrounding the Shuttle are interactive displays showing both Endeavour's and the Shuttle Program's history.
This exhibit is actually temporary: the Science Center is working on a much larger, permanent display building next door. This will display Endeavour vertically atop the "stack," with the last remaining mission-capable external tank (which was behind this building, but closed to the public) and two SRBs that were intended as spares. This will indeed be an ambitious display, and it might be worth a return trip!
It's always awe-inspiring to see something that has flown in space, and while I've seen a good number of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules, there was just something special about seeing a real Shuttle. I remember as a kid getting up very early to watch STS-1 lift off, and like most children of the 1980s, I remember when Challenger exploded. This was indeed the high point of a great trip.