Reusable spacecraft(1981)

NASA DEPLOYS THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE , DESIGNED TO MAKE MULTIPLE TRIPS FROM EARTH.

The worlds first reusable spacecraft was NASA's space shuttle which is designed like a rocket and return to earth like a glider. it was used to carry large payloads like satellites into orbit and bring back for repair, if necessary.

  

Booster rockets such as the Saturn V that launched the Apollo astronauts towards the moon are extremely wasteful. They can fly only once, part are thrown away after use, and 97 percent of the mass is consumed in the first few minutes . clearly, what  was really needed for advanced and economic space exploitation was a spacecraft that could take off and return, to be reused time after time.

In 1972 NASA in the united states decided to build the space shuttle. Rocket were to be used to assist the launch. Crew facilities were to be provided for up to eight people, and the huge cargo bay would be used to take satellites and sections of the international space station (ISS) into orbit out.

The space shuttle would glide back to earth through the atmosphere, the nosecap and under wing tiles reaching temperature of 2,600°F (1,430°c) as it came in. The craft would then land on a normal runway. Columbia, the first shuttle, blasted off on April 12, 1981. Challenger, discovery, Atlantis and endeavor followed. Everything went fine until the twenty fifth flight, in January 1986. One of the solid rockets boosters blew up, leading to the death of the challenger crew.

The Russian shuttle, Buran, had a test flight in 1988 but was soon abandoned. In January 2003 the U.S. craft Columbia broke up during re entry. After a hiatus of two and a half years, the U.S.launches were restarted. Six were planned for 2008, in an attempt to finish the construction of the ISS.

No U.S. space shuttle launches are scheduled beyond 2010. Even through discovery has made thirty trips, the cost and the long turnaround time have never been satisfactory. The another reusable launch system that has been proposed is called combination launch system.