Ignition -- The Space Shuttle Orbiter

The shuttle, an engineering marvel that debuted in the 1980s, inspiring kids to become astronauts and adults to wonder just how far space travel would go. The shuttle orbiter would serve as part shipping container, space taxi, home away from home, and laboratory. Boeing Heritage Company, Rockwell International, began work on the first orbiter in the 1970s. From space, the orbiter could re-enter the atmosphere and land like an airplane. Only this space plane could flex some serious muscle. It could carry 55,000 pounds of cargo. That's like carrying the weight of nine elephants. Most importantly, it was reusable and talk about use. Between 1981 and 2011, the shuttle flew more than 130 successful missions. 37 of those missions docked with the world's orbital outpost, the International Space Station. Ronald Reagan challenged NASA to make visions of a permanently crewed station a reality. And Boeing had just the right vehicle in mind to make that a reality. Check out this early model from the Boeing archives showing how the space shuttle would dock, only after it delivered the parts and its crew built the main structure of the space station. It would take five space agencies, 15 countries, and 10 years to construct. From 1998 on, nearly every shuttle flight hauled space station parts, the first U.S. component, the Unity module, and the largest load, four solar array structures. After 30 years of service, with cheers and tears along the way, the shuttle landed for the last time in 2011. So where might today's future astronauts go? Maybe Mars or beyond?