What did STS-135 accomplish?

During this final space shuttle mission, the last flight of the orbiter Atlantis, they delivered payloads and supplies to support the International Space Station for more than one year. The successful completion of the 12-day mission to the station brought an end to the 30-year space shuttle program.

What spacecraft was used in the STS program?

On April 24, 1990, Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into space during STS-31. In the course of 135 missions flown, two orbiters (Columbia and Challenger) suffered catastrophic accidents, with the loss of all crew members, totaling 14 astronauts.

What experiments were done on the STS 9 mission?

During the Spacelab 1 mission, the STS-9 crew carried out 72 experiments in atmospheric and plasma physics, astronomy, solar physics, materials sciences, technology, astrobiology, and Earth observations.

What did STS stand for shuttle?

Space Transportation System
The “STS” in STS-41B still stood for Space Transportation System, as it always had, but the numbers took on new meaning. The first number, in this case “4”, represented the fiscal year in which the Shuttle launched; in this case, 1984.

When did STS-135 launch?

July 8, 2011STS-135 / Fly date

Why is NASA not launching anymore shuttles?

While reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Columbia broke apart, killing the entire crew. All of these factors — high costs, slow turnaround, few customers, and a vehicle (and agency) that had major safety problems — combined to make the Bush administration realize it was time for the Space Shuttle Program to retire.

Why did NASA cancel the space shuttle program?

Which space shuttle never went to space?

Enterprise
Enterprise was the first space shuttle, although it never flew in space. It was used to test critical phases of landing and other aspects of shuttle preparations. Enterprise was mounted on top of a modified 747 airliner for the Approach and Landing Tests in 1977.

Why did NASA retire the space shuttle program?