Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle orbiter is the crewed spaceplane component of the Space Transportation System (STS). The other components were a large external fuel tank (ET) and two Rocketdyne solid rocket boosters (SRB) used for take-off and jettisoned before reaching orbit.

Six orbiters were built for flight; Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. The first of these, Enterprise, flew only as a glider, being launched from a modified Boeing 747.

There were two catastrophic failures resulting in the loss of the spacecraft and crews. Challenger was lost just after launch on its 10th mission in 1986, killing seven. Endeavour was built to replace it and first flew in 1992. Columbia was destroyed on re-entry in 2003 again killing all seven crew.

Manned Maneuvering Unit

The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) allowed astronauts to perform untethered extravehicular activity at a distance from the shuttle.

The MMU fits over the backpack of the spacesuit, 24 thruster nozzles propel gaseous nitrogen to control roll, pitch and yaw, and translation movement in the x, y and z axes.