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Space Shuttle Discovery is bathed in light on Launch Pad 39B. Seen above the external tank is the vent hood (known as the "beanie cap") at the end of the gaseous oxygen vent arm. Vapors are created as the liquid oxygen in the external tank boil off and the hood vents the gaseous oxygen vapors away from the shuttle. Below it is the orbiter access arm with the White Room at the end, through which the crew accesses the orbiter.
Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-116 at on Saturday, Dec. 9. On the mission, the crew will deliver truss segment, P5, to the International Space Station and begin the intricate process of reconfiguring and redistributing the power generated by the two pairs of solar arrays. The P5 will be mated to the P4 truss that was delivered and attached during the STS-115 mission in September.
Image credit: NASA/George Shelton
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifting off on mission STS-117. This is just after solid rocket booster (SRB) separation--you can see them peeling off as the shuttle keeps on going.
The Space Shuttle on its way through the rural parts of Devon to yet another training session. c.2005
The excitement from the kids was amazing. I couldn't have asked for better people with whom to view this historic event.
"Ground control to major Tom...
Ground control to major Tom...
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
(Ten) Ground control (Nine) to major Tom (Eight)
(Seven, six) Commencing countdown (Five), engines on (Four)
(Three, two) Check ignition (One) and may gods (Blastoff) love be with you
This is ground control to major Tom, you've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare
stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
Here am I sitting in a tin can far above the world
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do
Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles, I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows
Ground control to major Tom, your circuits dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, major Tom?
Can you hear me, major Tom?
Can you hear me, major Tom?
Can you...
Here am I sitting in my tin can far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do."
David Bowie | Space Oddity
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKE3FSPJu-4&feature=related
or
Endeavour flying over The Little Mermaid Ride in Disneyland California Adventures. (Rosa Trieu/Neon Tommy)
The Pathfinder Shuttle Stack at the U.S Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL, is the only full shuttle stack in the world.
Pathfinder served as a non-flight test vehicle and is currently undergoing restoration.
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.
The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), conducted science experiments in orbit, participated in the Shuttle-Mir program with Russia, and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS).