Space travel began in the 1960s with humans being sent on single missions into space. The rockets were launched into the air and only the tip landed in the ocean after being parachuted to Earth (“Space Shuttle Program,” par. 4). The focus of space exploration changed during the 1980s; moving from the desire for human spaceflight to the desire to create a reusable spacecraft. Originally called the Space Transportation System (STS), NASA created the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) (Heiney, par. 1-2). He wanted a shuttle that was cheaper because it could be launched, landed and relaunched and could collect better information. The 1980s began a new era in space exploration and saw one of the greatest tragedies in the history of space travel. A shuttle is the size of an airliner, lifts into space using powerful boosters and returns to Earth as a glider thanks to its aerodynamic wings. . Launched like a rocket, it orbits the earth like a spacecraft and lands like an airplane (“Shuttle Basics,” par. 1). The shuttle takes eight and a half minutes to reach space, travels at 17,500 miles per hour, and the crew can see a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes ("Space Shuttle Program," par. 3). The shuttle consists of three main parts: the Orbiter vehicle, two solid rocket boosters, and the external tank. The Orbiter Vehicle (OV) is “the brain and heart of the space transportation system” (“The Orbiter,” par. 1). Also called the fuselage, it has a crew cabin, a large cargo hold, and three Space Shuttle main engines (SSMEs). The front of the orbiter is the crew cabin; this is where the cockpit and living quarters are located and where mission experiments are performed. The central part of the orbiter is a large open bay and is...... middle of paper ......A. NASA, July 20, 2010. Web. April 11, 2014."Solid Rocket Booster." NASA. Ed. Jim Wilson. NASA, March 5, 2006. Web. April 11, 2014. “Space Shuttle Program.” National geographic. Np, nd Web. April 11, 2014. “Space Shuttle System Overview.” NASA. Ed. Jim Wilson. NASA, August 22, 2007. Web. April 11, 2014."STS-1." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, November 23, 2007. Web. April 11, 2014."STS-2." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, March 14, 2008. Web. April 11, 2014."STS-5." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, November 23, 2007. Web. April 12, 2014."STS-51B." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, November 23, 2007. Web. April 11, 2014."STS-6." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, November 23, 2007. Web. April 11, 2014."STS-7." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, November 23, 2007. Web. April 12, 2014."STS-8." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, November 23, 2007. Web. April 11, 2014."STS-9." NASA. Ed. Jeanne Ryba. NASA, February 18, 2010. Web. April 12. 2014.