Space travel began in the 1960s with the sending of humans on single missions into space. The rockets were launched into the air and only their tip landed in the ocean after parachuting back to Earth (“Space Shuttle Program,” par. 4). The direction 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, para. 1-2). He wanted a more economical shuttle because it could be launched, landed and relaunched and capable of gathering better information. The 1980s ushered in 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, rises into space using powerful thrusters and returns to Earth as a glider thanks to its aerodynamic wings. . Launched like a rocket, it circles the Earth like a spaceship and lands like an airplane (“Shuttle Basics,” par. 1). It takes eight and a half minutes for the shuttle to reach space, it travels at 17,500 miles per hour, and the crew can see the 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 includes a crew cabin, a large cargo bay, and three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME). The front part of the orbiter is the crew cabin; this is where the cockpit and living quarters are located and where mission experiments are carried out. The central part of the orbiter is a large open bay and it is...... middle of paper ......A. NASA, July 20, 2010. Web. April 11, 2014. “Solid Rocket Boosters.” NASA. Ed. Jim Wilson. NASA, March 5, 2006. Web. April 11, 2014. “Space Shuttle Program.” National Geographic. Np, and 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.