January 28, 1986: the Challenger, the second space shuttle NASA had ever built, tragically exploded, killing its 7 astronauts on board, after one of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters malfunctioned. About 50% of the of U.S. children ages 9 to 13 1 witnessed this disaster live as part of the NASA Teacher in Space Project, which aimed to inspire children to learn more about “mathematics, science, and space exploration.” 25 years after the Challenger disaster, what is the state of the NASA shuttle program?
A shuttle, or Space Transportation System (STS), is a reusable spacecraft manned by humans on board that orbits the Earth. The first U.S. shuttle launch, Mission STS-1, took off April 12, 1981. Since then, 132 shuttle missions total have been launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The objective of many of these shuttles has been to carry satellites and transport materials and tools to/from the International Space Station (ISS). The five shuttles built and used in these missions were the Columbia, the Challenger, the Discovery, the Atlantis, and the Endeavour. These shuttles were built with the capability to make 100 flights, but both the Challenger and Columbia were destroyed due to accidents.
Challenger Disaster Live on CNN:
NASA, having built shuttles for 30 years, has decided to retire the remaining shuttles (Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour) by summer 2011. The STS- 133 was just launched February 24th (this flight had planned to take off for over a year now, but has been pushed back five times now due to weather and technical reasons). There is now only one remaining launch scheduled: STS-134, set to take off this April 19th. The STS-134 will be led by Commander Mark E. Kelly, husband of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. He decided to resume training for this mission February 4th once Giffords stabilized after being shot in the head by a gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, at a Toucson meet-and-greet event. Both missions will bring supplies to the ISS.
If proper funding is raised, a final STS-135 launch will take place at the end of June.
The Hewitt community has its eyes on the final shuttle launch this year. Tatiana Dubin ’14 said, “If these shuttles are thirty years old, then it’s time to replace them.” Echoing her sentiment, Julia Wolinsky ’14 added, “I think NASA should have been developing new shuttles already so that there wouldn’t be a gap in sending out shuttles.”
What lies ahead for NASA? In place of these shuttles, they will begin to develop new technologies for commercial spacecraft vehicles. In the meantime, Russia will take over in the transport of materials to and from the ISS.
To view a video by the Associated Press regarding the echoing of the Challenger’s lessons, click here.
1New York Times poll