THE BEST PHOTOS OF THE SHUTTLES HISTORY
NASA'S REUSABLE SPACESHIP HAS HAD COUNTLESS PHOTOGENIC MOMENTS OVER THE YEARS. IN FACT, THE ICONIC SPACE SHUTTLE CAN HARDLY TAKE A BAD PICTURE.While the list of best shuttle photos could go on forever, here are 26 stunning pictures that we thought stood out from the space shuttle's 30-year run as NASA prepares for the program's final countdown on July 8th.FROM PROTOTYPE TO LAUNCHPAD TO LIFTOFF, SOARING INTO THE SKY TO PUNCHING THROUGH THE CLOUDS, FROM SPACE FLIGHT TO UNTETTERED SPACEWALK, FROM APPROACH TO LANDING. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS PHOTO TRIBUTE TO THE SHUTTLE PROGRAM.
THE SHUTTLE PREPPING FOR LAUNCH
THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROTOTYPE ENTERPRISE FLIES FREE AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM NASA'S 747 SHUTTLE CARRIER AIRCRAFT OVER ROGERS DRY LAKEBED DURING THE SECOND OF FIVE FREE FLIGHTS CARRIED OUT AT THE DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER, IN EDWARDS, CALIF., AS PART OF THE SHUTTLE PROGRAM'S APPROACH AND LANDING TESTS (ALT). THE TESTS WERE CONDUCTED TO VERIFY AERODYNAMICS AND HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS IN PREPARATION FOR ORBITAL FLIGHTS WITH THE SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA, WHICH BEGAN IN APRIL 1981.
A GREAT LIGHTING TEAM LIT UP THE SHUTTLE AS IT HEADED OUT TO THE PAD WITH EXTREMELY POWERFUL XENON LIGHTS.
The space shuttle Discovery stands ready for liftoff at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Behind the shuttle, a nearly full moon sets. Discovery is poised to launch on the STS-119 mission in March 2009. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA's first space shuttle mission launched on April 12, 1981 and by the end of the program, the agency will have flown 135 shuttle flights in just over 30 years.
NASA'S STORIED SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM HAS SEEN SOME AMAZING HIGHS, AND A COUPLE DEVASTATING LOWS OVER THE COURSE OF ITS 30-YEAR HISTORY. SOON, THE WORLD'S FIRST REUSABLE SPACECRAFT WILL RETIRE TO MAKE WAY FOR NASA'S NEXT PHASE. BUT FOR NOW, HERE'S A LOOK BACK AT THE MOST MEMORABLE MISSIONS OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE'S TENURE.
SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR LIFTS OFF TO BEGIN ITS FIRST MISSION, STS-49, ON MAY 7, 1992. THE SHUTTLE WOULD RENDEZVOUS WITH A STRANDED COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE AND RETURN IT TO SERVICE.
On July 26, 2005, the space shuttle fleet once again resumed spaceflights following a fatal accident. Discovery's STS-114 mission came two years of investigation into the Columbia accident to identify improvements to enhance safety for the spaceflight program.
Like the first return-to-flight mission, after Challenger, this voyage was flown by shuttle Discovery.
OF THE COUNTLESS GORGEOUS SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH PHOTOS TAKEN OVER THE YEARS, THIS ONE IS ESPECIALLY JAW-DROPPING. THE ANGLE AND GLARE OF THE SHUTTLE'S FLAMES HELPS COMMUNICATE WHAT 375,000 POUNDS OF THRUST ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE. HERE THE SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS IS LIFTING OFF ON ITS STS-27 MISSION ON DEC. 2, 1988.
WHILE THE SIGHT OF A SHUTTLE LAUNCH IS SPECTACULAR FROM THE GROUND, SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING LAUNCH PHOTOS HAVE COME FROM THOSE ALSO IN THE AIR.HERE THE SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA LAUNCHES ON ITS STS-52 MISSION FROM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER'S LAUNCH PAD 39B ON OCT. 22, 1992. THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN BY ASTRONAUT STEVEN R. NAGEL, WHO WAS FLYING OVER THE FLORIDA SPACEPORT IN A SHUTTLE TRAINING AIRCRAFT, WHICH IS A MODIFIED GULFSTREAM JET.
THIS PICTURE LANDED STEFANIE GORDON IN HOT WATER WITH NASA. TO SEE THE VIDEO CLICK HERE. SHE CAPTURED THIS REMARKABLE PICTURE ON A FLIGHT FROM NEW YORK TO PALM BEACH, FLA., AFTER THE FINAL LIFTOFF OF SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR NEAR CAPE CANAVERAL ON MONDAY, MAY 16.
THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR IS SILHOUETTED AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF EARTH'S HORIZON PRIOR TO DOCKING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
THIS FULL VIEW OF CHALLENGER IN SPACE WAS TAKEN BY A SATELLITE. A HEAVILY CLOUD-COVERED PORTION OF THE EARTH FORMS THE BACKDROP FOR THIS SCENE OF CHALLENGER IN ORBIT. THIS IMAGE WAS TAKEN DURING CHALLENGER'S STS-7 MISSION, WHICH LAUNCHED ON JUNE 18, 1983.
SHUTTLE DISCOVERY WITH AN EMPTY CARGO BAY AFTER DEPLOYING ITS CARGO.
THE MOON IS FRAMED BETWEEN THE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY AND THE EARTH DURING THE STS-95 MISSION IN 1998. HERE WE SEE THE BACK OF THE ORBITER, WITH ITS ORBITAL MANEUVERING SYSTEM (OMS) ENGINE POD AND TAIL VISIBLE, AS IT PASSES OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
THE GLOBE OF EARTH IS VISIBLE BENEATH A STARBURST OF LIGHT FROM THE SUN, WITH THE SPACE SHUTTLE'S ROBOTIC ARM FLOATING ON THE TOP RIGHT. THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN DURING THE STS-77 MISSION OF THE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR IN 1996.
One of the space shuttle's finest moments came when astronauts successfully fixed a disappointing optics failure that plagued the Hubble Space Telescope after it was launched.
In this photo, astronauts F. Story Musgrave, anchored on the end of the shuttle's robotic arm, and Jeffrey A. Hoffman inside the orbiter's payload bay, conduct the fifth and final spacewalk to fix Hubble during the shuttle Endeavour's 1993 servicing mission to the orbiting observatory.
This May 23, 2011 photo made by crew member Paolo Nespoli from a departing Soyuz capsule shows the shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station. This was the first time a spacecraft had ever photographed a shuttle docked at the station.
FLOATING 130 MILES ABOVE EARTH, MARK LEE TESTS THE SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY'S SIMPLIFIED AID FOR EVA RESCUE (SAFER) SYSTEM.
THE STS-41B FLIGHT OF CHALLENGER LIFTED OFF ON FEB. 3, 1984 AND MARKED THE FIRST TIME AN ASTRONAUT SPACEWALKED OUTSIDE THE SHUTTLE WITHOUT BEING TETHERED. ASTRONAUTS BRUCE MCCANDLESS AND ROBERT L. STEWART TESTED OUT THE MANNED MANEUVERING UNIT (MMU), A ROBOTIC BACKPACK WITH ITS OWN THRUSTERS THAT ALLOWED THE SPACEFLYERS TO MOVE AROUND, BECOMING THE FIRST HUMAN SATELLITES TO ORBIT THE EARTH. THIS MISSION ALSO MARKED THE FIRST TIME A SPACE SHUTTLE LANDED BACK WHERE IT LAUNCHED, AT NASA'S KENNEDY SPACE CENTER IN CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. WHILE KENNEDY IS NOW THE PREFERRED LANDING SITE FOR SHUTTLES, THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE MISSIONS LANDED AT CALIFORNIA'S EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE. NOW EDWARDS IS USED AS A BACKUP LANDING SITE.
ASTRONAUT DALE A. GARDNER HOLDS UP A "FOR SALE" SIGN AS A JOKE, PRETENDING TO OFFER UP TWO FAILED SATELLITES, PALAPA B-2 AND WESTAR 6, WHICH WERE RETRIEVED IN SPACE DURING THE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY'S STS-51A MISSION IN 1984. ASTRONAUT JOSEPH P. ALLEN IV CAN BE SEEN REFLECTED IN GARDNER'S HELMET VISOR.
THIS GORGEOUS STARRY-SKY PHOTO WAS TAKEN DURING THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR'S FINAL MISSION BEFORE RETIREMENT, THE STS-134 FLIGHT. THE PICTURE, SNAPPED BY ASTRONAUTS INSIDE THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, SHOWS THE ORBITER DOCKED TO THE OUTPOST ON MAY 28, 2011.
THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR GLIDES BACK TO EARTH ON JAN. 20, 1996, AFTER NINE DAYS IN SPACE ON THE STS-72 AT THE SHUTTLES LANDING FACILITY AT NASA'S KENNEDY SPACE CENTER IN CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.
This March 22, 1982 shuttle mission, the third flight of the fleet, was focused on further testing of the shuttle, including its robotic arm system, Canadarm, and its thermal protection shielding.
Because of high winds at Columbia's planned landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the shuttle was forced to glide down at the backup site of White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, N.M. While the site, now called the White Sands Space Harbor, still remains a backup landing facility for the shuttle, a shuttle never landed there following the STS-3 mission.
The last-ever space shuttle launch - that of Atlantis, scheduled for July 8 - will come just over three decades after the first one, which took place April 12, 1981.
But that's not to say NASA's iconic shuttle program just turned 30 years old. It's actually pushing 40, since President Richard Nixon officially announced its existence in January 1972. And the shuttle's roots go much deeper than that, stretching all the way back to a 1930s concept vehicle the Nazis hoped could drop bombs on New York City.
The story of the shuttle's birth is one of big dreams and slashed budgets, of shifting visions, of NASA and the nation's attempt to find their way in space after beating the Soviets to the moon in 1969.
THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR PASSES OVER THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE IN SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 2012. ENDEAVOUR IS MAKING A FINAL TREK ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO THE CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER IN LOS ANGELES, WHERE IT WILL BE PERMANENTLY DISPLAYED. (AP PHOTO/MICHAEL KASS)
IF YOUR GOING BE IN OR AROUND THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER ON JULY 8, 2011, NASA HAS PUBLISHED A LIST OF PLACES WHERE YOU WILL GET A GREAT VIEW OF THE LAUNCH SITE, CLICK HERE.
PHOTOS: CREDIT NASA
