30 years of Space Shuttle history
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Last flight of the Space Shuttle: a 30-year retrospective
The United States has been a space-faring nation for just over 50 years, ever since Alan Shepard's suborbital pop shot aboard Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961.
When Atlantis touched down yesterday at Cape Canaveral, Fla., the high-flying era of the space shuttles came down to earth as well. After 30 years, the shuttle program, which began on April 12, 1981 with Colombia, has ended with the 135th mission.
Space shuttle era ends with Atlantis - The Big Picture - Boston.com
The History of the Space Shuttle - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic
From its first launch 30 years ago to its final mission scheduled for next Friday, NASA's Space Shuttle program has seen moments of dizzying inspiration and of crushing disappointment.S ince 1981, NASA space shuttles have been rocketing from the Florida coast into Earth orbit. The five orbiters — Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour — have flown more than 130 times, carrying over 350 people into space and travelling more than half a billion miles, more than enough to reach Jupiter. Designed to return to Earth and land like a giant glider, the shuttle was the world's first reusable space vehicle.
The Space Shuttle
This is a list in table format of all missions flown by space shuttles launched between 1980 and 2011.
List of space shuttle missions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Rocket To Nowhere
The Space Shuttle Discovery is up in orbit, safely docked to the International Space Station, and for the next five days, astronauts will be busy figuring out whether it's safe for them to come home.