shuttle launch
Orbiter leaves Earth
A shuttle launch is the liftoff of a space shuttle—the reusable spacecraft that carried astronauts and cargo into orbit.
The term evokes the dramatic spectacle of ignition, billowing exhaust, and ascent: We watched the shuttle launch from the beach.
Though NASA retired its shuttle program in 2011, the phrase remains familiar from decades of televised missions.
- liftoffMoment of ascent
- countdownBackward enumeration to zero
- rocketPropulsion-driven spacecraft
- NASAFederal space exploration bureau
- astronautSpacecraft crew member
mission · orbit · booster · launchpad · ignition · main engine · solid rocket · thrust · payload · Cape Canaveral · spacecraft · blast · smoke · flames · rumble · sonic boom · mission control · crew
- space fictionscience fiction, spaceship, sci-fi, astronaut, space adventure
- launchesblast off, liftoff, blastoff, ignition, countdown
- flight eventstakeoff, landing, liftoff, flight, descent
- spaceflightastronaut, spacecraft, liftoff, orbit, countdown
- Aviation milestonesfirst flight, Wright brothers, sound barrier, Concorde, SR-71