Space art Four original oil paintings by American artist Ellery Kurtz were flown in one of NASA's Get Away Special (G.A.S.) container mounted to a bridge in the shuttle cargo bay. These original works of art are the first oil paintings to enter Earth orbit. This NASA GAS canister, designated G-481, was the 46th such canister flown aboard a Space Shuttle. The Space Shuttle "Columbia" orbited the Earth 98 times during its mission duration time of 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes and 51 seconds. "Columbia" was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 12, 1986 and landed at
Space policy of the United States of his term in 1968. Apollo 11, the first Moon landing, occurred early in Richard Nixon's presidency, but NASA's budget continued to decline and three of the planned Apollo Moon landings were cancelled. The Nixon administration approved the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, but did not support funding of other projects such as a Mars landing, colonization of the Moon, or a permanent space station. On January 5, 1972, Nixon approved the development of NASA's Space Shuttle program, a decision that profoundly influenced American efforts to explore and develop space for several decades thereafter. Under the Nixon administration, however,