The Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a reusable spacecraft that NASA uses to launch humans into space since 1981. The space shuttle is about 37 meters long with a cargo bay and a crew compartment. NASA has built six space shuttles, two of which are no long used, the Enterprise, and the Challenger. The Challenger blew up, and the Enterprise was used as a simulator, and was never sent into space. The other space shuttles (orbiters) are the Atlantis, Endeavor, Columbia, and Discovery.

The orbiter is launched into space from Kennedy Space Center, in Central Florida. The orbiter is lifted of the ground with the solid rocket boosters, which drop off the orbiter before the orbiter goes through the Earth's atmosphere. Then there is the external tank, which holds fuel, and burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.

When reentering the Earth's atmosphere, the orbiter will experience deadly heat. To stop the burning of the orbiter, the orbiter has special tiles, which are aligned on the space shuttle very precisely.

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