Space Shuttle Challenger and transported to the silos for storage. Because of its early loss, "Challenger" was the only space shuttle that never wore the NASA "meatball" logo, and was never modified with the MEDS "glass cockpit". The tail was never fitted with a drag chute – it was fitted to the remaining orbiters in 1992. Also because of its early demise "Challenger" was also one of only two shuttles that never visited the Mir Space Station or the International Space Station – the other one being its sister ship "Columbia". Space Shuttle Challenger Space Shuttle "Challenger" (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was the
Space Shuttle program Space Shuttle program The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official name, Space Transportation System (STS), was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The Space Shuttle—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank—carried up to eight astronauts and up to of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its