Jakarta –
Have you ever been curious about space missions carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)? Usually, NASA’s space missions cost a lot of money, such as the one on the Space Shuttle program.
Quoting from the World Atlas website, the Space Shuttle is NASA’s most expensive space mission ever completed. The mission cost US$ 209 billion.
The main goal of the Space Shuttle Program is to build the International Space Station (ISS) which is a modular space station located in low Earth orbit.
The thing that made the Space Shuttle program cost so much was because the planes used were different types of shuttles from the planes on the Apollo missions.
In the Apollo missions, the plane glided because of a small capsule at the end, then was designed to fall into the sea. Meanwhile, the space shuttle is designed aerodynamically so that it can glide to the ground like an airplane.
Since parts of the shuttle are reusable, it makes sense that they would be prohibitively expensive to build. This is commensurate with the cost of constructing the external fuel tanks on a single-gliding aircraft.
The Space Shuttle program with the shuttle lasted from 1972 to 2011. Until now, the technology in the space shuttle had not been updated since the 1980s.
NASA’s 5 Most Expensive Space Shuttle
Quoting the book Secrets of Spacecraft by Seri Secrets of Nature (2010), here are some space shuttles that have launched into space:
1. Columbia
The space shuttle Columbia launched into space in 1981. This first mission marked the beginning of more frequent manned mission launches at a lower cost.
2. Challenger
The Challenger was one of the ill-fated space shuttles. On its launch in 1986, this plane exploded and killed the seven crew members on board.
3. Discovery
Discovery flown on 30 August 1984 and is the third oldest aircraft still in service today. The function of Discovery is for research and installation missions for the International Space Station.
4. Atlantis
This shuttle is the fourth frequent mission to send extra parts to the International Space Station. Atlantis is counted as having made as many as 27 flights.
5. Endeavour
This space shuttle is the last spacecraft built by NASA. During the mission carried out by Endeavor, 173 astronauts have flown and the total distance traveled has been 197 million kilometers.
Those are the shuttles that have completed their mission to fly into space.
Watch Video “US Divers Find Wreckage of Spacecraft that Crashed 36 Years Ago“
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