space shuttle
Orbital ferry vehicle
A space shuttle is a reusable spacecraft designed to carry astronauts and cargo into Earth orbit and return by landing like an airplane.
The term became closely associated with NASA's Space Shuttle program, which operated from 1981 to 2011, but applies to any spacecraft of this design: The space shuttle docked with the International Space Station. (Capitalized Space Shuttle often refers specifically to NASA's vehicles.)
Vehicle for outer space
- orbiterBody circling another
- fuselageAircraft's central structure
- delta wingTriangular aircraft lifting surface
- heat shieldBarrier against extreme temperatures
tile · payload · cockpit · nose cone · landing gear · thermal protection · airframe · flight deck
Spacecraft crew member
- crewWorking team aboard
- commanderPerson with authority over others
- pilotOne who steers aircraft
- EVAActivity outside spacecraft
experiment · docking · rendezvous · microgravity · mission control · orbit · payload · satellite
Moment of ascent
- countdownBackward enumeration to zero
- ignitionStarting combustion process
- thrustForceful forward motion
- launchpadRocket departure platform
ascent · staging · rollout · gantry · launch window · T-minus · hold · scrub
Downward slope or lineage
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
- heat shieldBarrier against extreme temperatures
- plasmaElectrified matter state
- blackoutComplete power loss
glide · runway · sonic boom · approach · touchdown · drag chute · angle of attack · thermal barrier
spacecraft
Vehicle for outer space
- orbiterBody circling another
- fuselageAircraft's central structure
- delta wingTriangular aircraft lifting surface
heat shield · tile · payload · cockpit · nose cone · landing gear · thermal protection · airframe · flight deck · robotic arm
astronaut
Spacecraft crew member
EVA · experiment · docking · rendezvous · microgravity · mission control · orbit · payload · satellite · deployment
liftoff
Moment of ascent
- countdownBackward enumeration to zero
- ignitionStarting combustion process
- thrustForceful forward motion
launchpad · ascent · staging · rollout · gantry · launch window · T-minus · hold · scrub · separation
descent
Downward slope or lineage
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
- heat shieldBarrier against extreme temperatures
- plasmaElectrified matter state
blackout · glide · runway · sonic boom · approach · touchdown · drag chute · angle of attack · thermal barrier · ablation
- NASAApollo, Artemis, astronauts, Cape Canaveral, Hubble
- space explorationrockets, Saturn V, satellites, mission, Falcon Heavy
- Space HistoryApollo 11, moon landing, Sputnik, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin
- space techrockets, satellites, rover, SpaceX, NASA
- space termsmoon, star, planet, rocket, satellite
- 80sbig hair, mullets, shoulder pads, new wave, synth-pop
space shuttlecapsule
Enclosed dose container
space capsule · Soyuz · Mercury capsule · Apollo capsule · Vostok
space, spacious, shuttle, spaceship, spatial, spaceman, aerospace, shuttling, spacer