List of space shuttle missions

This is a list in table format of all missions flown by space shuttles launched between 1980 and 2011. It also includes lists of the 1977 manned test flights of the shuttle orbiter and of the shuttle's unflown rescue missions. The information displayed in the tables includes the flight order, mission designation, launch date, length of mission, shuttle used, number of crew members (launched/landed) and landing site. Summary statistics for all shuttle missions are provided in separate tables. Only the United States flew human spaceflight missions in its Space Shuttle program,^[1] while the Soviet Union flew one unmanned space flight of the Buran.^[2] Several European countries and Japan were also involved in the Shuttle program through the participation of astronauts from those countries, sponsorship of scientific experiments, and the funding, building, and organizational and scientific control of the Spacelab module.

Flight numbering

The U.S. space shuttle program was officially referred to as the Space Transportation System (STS). Specific shuttle missions were therefore designated with the prefix "STS". Initially, the launches were given sequential numbers indicating order of launch, such as STS-9. This scheme continued for 25 launches and 8 cancellations up to STS-33.^[2]

Subsequent to the Apollo 13 mishap, due to NASA Administrator James M. Beggs' fear of the number 13 and consequent unwillingness to number a forthcoming flight as STS-13,^[3][4][5][6] beginning in 1984, each mission was also assigned a code, such as STS-41-B, with the first digit indicating the federal fiscal year offset into the program (so 41-B was scheduled for FY 1984, 51-L originally for FY 1985 and the third flight in FY 1995 would have been named 151-C), the second digit indicating the launch site (1 was Kennedy Space Center and 2 was Shuttle Launch Complex (SLC) 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, although Vandenberg was never used), and the letter indicating scheduling sequence. As with the sequential numbers, these codes were assigned when the launches were initially scheduled and were not changed as missions were delayed or rescheduled.^[2]

Although the codes were adopted from STS-41-B through STS-51-L the sequential numbers were used internally at NASA on all processing paperwork. Flights were assigned with sequential numbers from STS-9 through STS-33. With the resumption of flights in 1988, NASA restarted with STS-26R, the "reflight" suffix to disambiguate from prior missions. This continued through STS-33R.^[2]

After the Challenger disaster, a sequential numbering system only was used, with the number according to counting from the beginning, although, unlike the initial system, the assignment of numbers was based on the initial schedule and may not reflect launch order. The letter indicated that the intermediate numbering system applied, and e.g. flight STS-51 (a mission carried out by Discovery in 1993) was many years after STS-51-A (Discovery's second flight in 1984).^[2]

Flight statistics

† Destroyed

List of shuttle flights

Test flights

The following list includes Enterprise's free flights, but not other captive-carry flight tests.

* Note - The durations listed count only the orbiter free-flight time, and not total time aloft along with airborne time atop of the 747 SCA.

Launches and orbital flights

Cancelled missions

One initial emergency flight abort (RTLS) sub-orbital test mission was canceled due to high risk. Many other planned missions were canceled due to the late development of the shuttle, and the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

Contingency missions

STS-300 was the designation for the Space Shuttle Launch on Need (LON) missions to be launched on short notice for STS-114 and STS-121, in the event that the shuttle became disabled or damaged and could not safely return to Earth.^[8][9][10] After STS-121, the rescue flight for STS-115, if needed, would have been STS-301. After STS-115, the rescue mission designations were based on the corresponding regular mission that would be replaced should the rescue mission be needed. For example, the STS-116 rescue mission was branded STS-317, because the normal mission scheduled after STS-116 was STS-117. Should the rescue mission have been needed, the crew and vehicle for STS-117 would assume the rescue mission profile and become STS-317. All potential rescue missions were to be launched with a crew of four, and would return with ten or eleven crew members, depending on the number of crew launched on the rescued shuttle. Missions were expected to last approximately eleven days. None of the planned contingency missions was ever flown.

No contingency mission was planned for STS-135, the final shuttle mission. Instead, NASA planned to effect any required rescues one-by-one, using Russian Soyuz spacecraft.^[11]

¹ Originally scheduled to be Endeavour, changed to Discovery due to contamination issues.^[12]

Buran

Buran was a reusable spacecraft built by the Soviet space program, similar in orbiter design to the US Space Shuttle, and intended for manned flights in the Buran program. Buran flew one test mission, designated 1K1, on November 15, 1988. The spacecraft was launched unmanned from and landed at Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh S.S.R. and flew two orbits, traveling 83,707 km (52,013 mi) in 3 hours, 25 minutes (0.14 flight days). Buran never flew again; the Buran program was cancelled shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.^[13] In 2002, the collapse of the hangar in which it was stored destroyed the Buran orbiter.

See also

• List of human spaceflights
• List of human spaceflights to the ISS
• List of Space Shuttle crews
• List of space shuttle rollbacks
• Cancelled Space Shuttle missions
• ISS assembly sequence
• Timeline of Space Shuttle missions

References

External links

• NASA's Shuttle and Rocket Missions
• NASA ISS Consolidated Launch Manifest
• Unofficial Space Shuttle Manifest
• Space and Astronautics News