UNIVERSE
SPACE EXPLORATION
|
Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
|
|
|
True
|
|
|
False
|
|
|
Either A or B
|
|
|
None of the above
|
Detailed explanation-1: -Discovery was the first of the three active Space Shuttles to be retired, completing its final mission on March 9, 2011; Endeavour did so on June 1. The final shuttle mission was completed with the landing of Atlantis on July 21, 2011, closing the 30-year Space Shuttle program.
Detailed explanation-2: -Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. They launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
Detailed explanation-3: -All of the components are reused except for the external fuel tank, which burns up in the atmosphere after each launch. The longest the Shuttle has stayed in orbit on any single mission is 17.5 days on mission STS-80 in November 1996.
Detailed explanation-4: -NASA’s Columbia orbiter launches skyward on April 12, 1981 on NASA’s first-ever shuttle flight, STS-1. Commanding the 54-hour mission was astronaut veteran John Young with then-rookie flyer Robert Crippen as pilot. (Image credit: NASA.)