Memorable moments in the US shuttle program

The US space shuttle program has undergone many stages of flight and slump for the past 30 years with mixed achievements and disasters.

>>>Disaster in space

This program was born in 1972 with the launching decision of President Richard Nixon. A prototype ship named Enterprise was built for test flights but the ship never flew into space. Columbia became the first space shuttle launched into orbit on April 12, 1981 with two astronauts.

US President Richard Nixon (right) holds the shuttle model during his meeting with NASA Director James C Fletcher in 1972 - Photo: Reuters

After five years of operation, which mainly focused on launching satellites and conducting experiments in space, the disaster that occurred with the Challenger exploding only 73 seconds after taking off on January 28, 1986 .

The explosion was witnessed by countless Americans directly on television, including millions of students, who turned on televisions to watch the scene of the ship bringing teacher 37-year-old Christa McAuliffe into space. Under the plan, McAuliffe will be the first to lecture from the universe.

McAuliffe and six other crew members were killed and the shuttle program was suspended for nearly three years. The original of the accident involved a broken ring in a rocket.

The shuttle was launched back in September 988 with Discovery's flight. This same ship in 1990 brought the Hubble telescope to space, creating a revolution for human understanding of astronomy.

Space shuttle Challenger during the fateful launch on January 28, 1986 - Photo: AFP

The current director of the US Space and Aeronautics Agency (NASA) Charles Bolden is the man who controlled the Discovery ship for the Hubble telescope mission.

In 1993, the Endeavor with seven crew members was assigned to repair a malfunction at the telescope's main mirror and in early 1994, the first sharp images from Hubble were announced.

There are four telescope maintenance missions carried out in later flights and the last one takes place in 2009.

In 1992, US President George Bush (father) and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed an agreement on Russian-American cooperation in the universe so that Russian astronauts could fly on American spacecraft and pilots. American practitioners can work at Russia's Mir Space Station.

Mir, an orbital laboratory, operating from 1986 to 2001, is the world's largest space station until it is replaced by the International Space Station (ISS).

The flight in 2.1995 of Discovery marked the first Russian-American cooperation mission. The ship carried a Russian astronaut and made a round-trip flight to Mir station in preparation for Atlantis' connection mission four months later.

Atlantis brought with him five Russian astronauts and an American astronaut on his journey to Mir station in June, which lasted into July 1995. A total of 9 shuttle flights have made connections to the Russian space lab, carrying supplies and equipment.

The most important mission of the shuttle came with the start of the ISS construction in 1998.

The first part of the ISS - Zarya module was submitted by Russia in November 1998. A month later, the shuttle Endeavor was launched to carry the Unity module to assemble with Zarya, marking the beginning of the construction process that lasted more than a decade.

Twenty-five shuttle flights helped assemble humanity's outpost in the universe, a project that gathers 16 countries - including Russia, Canada, Japan, European countries, and the US - and costs over $ 100 billion to build.

A ceremony to commemorate the seven Columbia crew members in 2003 - Photo: AFP

Almost two decades after the Challenger ship explosion, when shuttle flights seemed normal again, a tragedy stunned the United States when Columbia broke into pieces just before landing in the year. 2003.

Seven astronauts on the ship died when it broke down when returning to the atmosphere. The cause is attributed to damage from an insulated ceramic piece in the fuel tank that pops out and hits the ship's wing during takeoff.

Once again, the shuttle program was suspended for more than two years when NASA made drastic changes aimed at improving the working style and safety in this organization.

Discovery made the return flight in July 2005 and since then the remaining three ships - Endeavor, Discovery and Atlantis - continue to board the space station.

According to NASA, more than 350 people from 16 countries have flown in space shuttle for the past 30 years.

Discovery became the first ship to "retire" after a flight to ISS in February this year. Endeavor his last flight in May, and Atlantis is expected to take off the last time on July 8.7.