Space Shuttle gliding and landing; it was originally intended to be outfitted for orbital operations after the test program, but it was found more economical to upgrade the structural test article STA-099 into orbiter "Challenger" (OV-099). An additional test article, dubbed "Pathfinder" (OV-098), was built for form and fit tests, and is on display at the Alabama Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. "Challenger" disintegrated 73 seconds after launch in 1986, and "Endeavour" was built as a replacement from structural spare components. Building "Endeavour" cost about US$1.7 billion. "Columbia" broke apart over Texas during re-entry in 2003. A Space Shuttle launch
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