Space Shuttle Atlantis operated as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966. Space Shuttle "Atlantis" lifted off on its maiden voyage on 3 October 1985, on mission STS-51-J, the second dedicated Department of Defense flight. It flew one other mission, STS-61-B, the second night launch in the shuttle program, before the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster temporarily grounded the Shuttle fleet in 1986. Among the five Space Shuttles flown into space, "Atlantis" conducted a subsequent mission in the shortest time after the previous mission (turnaround time) when it launched in November 1985 on STS-61-B, only 50 days
Space Shuttle America and the ride ends. The fictional events take place in 2094. The movie was shown for a short while at Six Flags Over Texas, and was made by DreamQuest Images. Outside the building that houses the queue and the ride itself is a fiberglass mock-up of a Space Shuttle orbiter that has authentic "tiles" used in actual space shuttle orbiters. The shuttle was built to the exact scale of the real STS craft , but is neither an official NASA shuttle nor capable of spaceflight. The building that shows Space Shuttle America also showed: High operating costs and dwindling popularity