Looking Back…
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Do you remember the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program? We’re coming to the end of the program now, and there are a lot of “last times” for the record books. Tom brought us that great video of the picture-perfect landing of Atlantis this morning… it’s always a pleasure to have our astronauts home safe after a mission. So, while we’re looking at the ending of this very successful program, let’s spare a moment to look at it from the beginning.
The program officially began operations January 5, 1972 (although NASA was kicking it around in 1969); and the first orbiter, Enterprise, began ground testing in 1976 (Enterprise was not capable of space flight). The concept of a “reusable” spacecraft was, at that time, foreign and weird. There was a lot of talk about how it wouldn’t be cost-effective because of high maintenance expenses, and about how dangerous it would be to fly a used spacecraft. Of course, sitting on top of a rocket and getting shot into space at 17,000 mph tends to make one uninsurable anyway (the “good hands people” will NOT want to talk to you).
NASA: Maiden flight of Space Shuttle Columbia, April 12, 1981 – notice the painted external tank
During the life of the program, there have been two disasters resulting in the loss of 14 astronauts. The Space Shuttle Challenger was lost 73 seconds after liftoff, January 28, 1986…
NASA: Crew of the Challenger
…and the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost about 16 minutes before its expected landing, February 1, 2003.
NASA: Crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia
Requiescant in pace.
The space shuttle has been portrayed in popular culture since 1959, where it appeared on an episode of The Twilight Zone as the “X-20 Dyna-Soar” (“And When the Sky was Opened”, December 11, 1959). Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was the first attempt to portray the shuttle realistically with the Pan Am Orion Shuttle. Since then, the list of shuttle appearances or references in popular culture has been long and exhaustive, including even a motion simulator space shuttle ride at Six Flags Great America.
Since Columbia lifted-off April 12, 1981, there have been 134 missions, and 14 stand-by rescue missions which were never used. There were 5 free, non-captive flights of Enterprise prior to this, but as those were test flights (not in space), they are not counted. The Space Shuttle Program has increased technology tremendously, along with its significant contribution to space exploration. For you trivia fans, there never was an STS-13 because the NASA director at that time, James M. Beggs, was phobic about the number 13 (that’s called “triskaidekaphobia”). The numbering system went from the sequential STS-9 to the coded STS-41-B.
With the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program, we will lose the sight of these beautiful birds flying over the Earth. I’ll be sad to see them go, but I’m looking forward to what NASA brings us next.
NASA Atlantis landing after STS-30 mission
NASA: Space Shuttle Atlantis on carrier aircraft.
Thanks Nasa for all you do to take us to places never thought possible.
May God bless all the families involved with all of the Nasa projects
God Bless You
Trudy
A real shame to see this unique technology being abandoned after finally figuring out hot to do it right as witnessed by the flawless STS-129 mission.
For interested space freaks I direct you to this difinitive lecture series at MIT aeronautics By Jeff Hoffman and Aaron Cohen 16.885J / ESD.35J Aircraft Systems Engineering 22 3 hour video lectures on the history and design of the STS by someof the people who made it happen.
The Disney TV show did a program shown in 1955 (“Man in Space”) that depicted the first manned flight into space using something Shuttle-like. It was a winged craft launched into orbit on top of a multi-stage booster rocket, and at the end of the flight, the winged part with the crew landed like a jet plane. Other than for being mounted on top of the booster instead of on the side, it was pretty much the Shuttle concept. Since Wernher von Braun was Disney’s technical advisor, my guess is that it shows how early von Braun was playing with the idea that became the Shuttle.
Thanks, Dwight– that’s a reference I missed. I didn’t think that “Man in Space” showed up until after 1959 in the “Tomorrowland” adventure series. I know it was reissued in 2004 as part of the “Walt Disney Treasure Lines”, along with “Man and the Moon”, and “Mars and Beyond”. Appreciate the information!
I am an avid reader of your blog from the Wales in the UK.
I think sincere congratulations for the unbelievable amount of world class aerospace engineering that has gone into the entire program. also deep respect to the men and women who continue to push the boundraries of human accomplishment in our ever increasing thirst for knowledge.
An excellent blog – thank you
According to THE DISNEY FILMS by Leonard Maltin (Bonanza, 1973), “Man in Space” was first shown on the Disney TV show March 9, 1955. It was later released theatrically, which could explain some confusion about the date. This is a sore spot for me because I got a little confused myself about the release date for this program when I was writing an article that recently appeared in THE GRIFFITH OBSERVER. I think I typoed the date as 1954 (the result of a too quick glance at the reference book and seeing “1954-1955 season”), and worse yet, gave the title as “MEN in Space.” If the world does end in 2012, at least I’ll have the consolation of knowing that my goof won’t be sitting there in cold type mocking me for as long as paper endures…
one thing you can bet will happen after 2012,,,i’ll be 2013.lol
Dwight, you have my heart-felt sympathy and empathy. Those references just NEVER go away, do they? No matter where you go, or what you do in life, you’ll always be “Dwight – the guy who messed up in THE GRIFFITH OBSERVER”.