Space Shuttle

STS-1 was the first flight of the Space Shuttle program, sending veteran astronaut John Young and rookie Robert Crippen aboard Columbia on the first-ever crewed test flight of a completely new spacecraft design.

STS-7 made Sally Ride the first American woman in space, flying aboard Challenger on a mission that deployed two communications satellites and operated the Shuttle's robotic arm to retrieve a free-flying research platform.

Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after launch when a failed O-ring seal in a solid rocket booster allowed hot gas to burn through the external fuel tank, killing all seven crew members including teacher Christa McAuliffe.

STS-26 returned the Space Shuttle to flight nearly three years after the Challenger disaster, sending Discovery's crew safely to orbit and back on a mission that restored confidence in NASA's redesigned rocket boosters.

STS-31 carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit aboard Discovery and deployed it using the Shuttle's robotic arm, launching what would become one of the most productive scientific instruments in history.

STS-61 sent Endeavour's seven-person crew to correct the Hubble Space Telescope's flawed mirror through a record five spacewalks, rescuing one of NASA's most important scientific instruments.

STS-71 made history as the first Space Shuttle docking with the Russian space station Mir, forming the largest spacecraft ever assembled in orbit at the time and beginning a new era of American-Russian cooperation in space.

STS-93 made Eileen Collins the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission, deploying the Chandra X-ray Observatory aboard Columbia despite an electrical short and a hydrogen leak during ascent.

Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry on February 1, 2003, killing all seven crew members after a piece of insulating foam struck and damaged the orbiter's wing during launch sixteen days earlier.

STS-114 returned the Space Shuttle to flight two and a half years after the Columbia disaster, with Eileen Collins commanding Discovery on a mission that introduced new on-orbit inspection and repair techniques.

STS-125 sent Atlantis on the fifth and final Hubble servicing mission, upgrading the telescope with new instruments and repairs across five spacewalks that extended its scientific life for another decade.

STS-135 was the 135th and final flight of the Space Shuttle program, sending Atlantis to resupply the International Space Station and bringing thirty years of Shuttle operations to a close.