Space Shuttle

About

The NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter was the operational element of the Space Transportation System, the world's first reusable orbital spacecraft. Designed by Rockwell International (later Boeing) and operated by NASA, the Shuttle program ran from 1981 to 2011 with 135 missions across five operational orbiters: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The first orbital test flight, STS-1, took place on April 12, 1981, with Columbia commanded by John Young and Robert Crippen — the first time a manned spacecraft had been flown into orbit on its first flight, without an unmanned test mission.

The Orbiter's distinctive double-delta wing planform was the engineering compromise that made reusable spaceflight possible. The airframe had to be capable of hypersonic re-entry from orbital velocity (Mach 25 at the upper atmosphere), supersonic and subsonic gliding flight through the lower atmosphere, and the unpowered landing approach at Edwards Air Force Base or Kennedy Space Center — all in one airframe with no go-around capability after entry interface. The 24,000 thermal-protection tiles covering the underside of each Orbiter protected against re-entry temperatures up to 1,650 degrees Celsius.

Two of the five operational Orbiters were lost in tragic accidents — Challenger (STS-51-L) on January 28, 1986, and Columbia (STS-107) on February 1, 2003. The surviving three Orbiters are now museum displays: Discovery at the Smithsonian, Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center, and Endeavour at the California Science Center. The unmistakable Space Shuttle silhouette is one of the most distinctive aircraft shapes ever produced.

In the simulator

A unique scale subject that flies as an unpowered glider — capturing the approach phase of a real Shuttle mission, when the orbiter glided home from the upper atmosphere with no engines running. Use it for novelty scale flying with one of the most iconic spacecraft ever built. A unique entry in any RC pack.