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Space Shuttle

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

The Space Shuttle Discovery launches from Kennedy Space Center, carrying a crew of astronauts to the International Space Station.

The Amazing Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a very special airplane that could fly up to space! It was used by the United States from 1981 to 2011. The Space Shuttle could fly many times, which made it very useful. It helped put satellites in space, fix telescopes, and build the International Space Station.

There were five Space Shuttles that flew. They all started their journeys from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each Shuttle had strong engines and special wings that helped it fly up and land like a regular airplane. After a mission, the Shuttle would glide down and land on a runway, just like a plane at an airport.

The Space Shuttle did many important jobs in space. It carried people, tools, and science experiments. Astronauts lived inside the Shuttle while they worked up in the sky. When their time in space was over, they came back home safely. The Space Shuttle made space travel easier and more fun for everyone!

Images

The space shuttle Atlantis separates from the International Space Station, captured by an astronaut during a mission in 2010.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis floating in space after undocking from the International Space Station.
The Space Shuttle Columbia being prepared for future missions at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 1979.
The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise is released from a NASA aircraft during its first free flight in 1977, testing its flight capabilities before future space missions.
The launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia on its historic first mission in 1981, showcasing an important moment in space exploration.
Illustrations of NASA's Space Shuttle launches: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.
A modern space shuttle cockpit featuring new flat-panel displays that replace old gauges, making flying more efficient.
NASA's Space Shuttle General Purpose Computers showing how the system was upgraded to use fewer components.
A view inside the Space Shuttle Columbia showing the Spacelab module, used for scientific experiments in space.
A space shuttle's external fuel tank drifting away into space, captured during the STS-115 mission.
A NASA crawler-transporter moves two solid rocket boosters to prepare for the space shuttle Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station.
A NASA ship, Freedom Star, tows a spent solid rocket booster back to port after a space shuttle launch.

Related articles

International Space Station
Kennedy Space Center
Florida

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Space Shuttle, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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