CNN 2011-07-12

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US has been launching shuttles for 30 years. They are the world's first reusable spacecraft. They launch like a rocket and land like a plane. Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavour - these five orbiters have launched more than 600 astronauts into space. This video you're seeing right here highlights some of their achievements.

 

Over the course of 134 shuttle flights, these crews have logged millions of miles in space and carried thousands of tons of cargo¹. The space shuttle has served as America's main transport for crews and supplies to the International Space Station. Shuttle crews have also repaired space equipment, like the Hubble Telescope. They've launched new satellites, and they've done experiments that can't be done on Earth.

 

When the shuttle was first announced, the idea was that shuttle launches would be cheap enough to happen every week. But it actually costs about half a billion dollars to launch a shuttle, and NASA only ever planned a few missions each year. So what's NASA's plans for the shuttles' retirement²? Each one of them will become an exhibit in museums across America. So maybe one day, you might even get to go inside one.

 

Now we're going to hear from someone who not only gets to go inside a shuttle, he gets to fly in one too: the commander of Atlantis's latest mission, speaking a few weeks before the last scheduled mission.

 

I don't think that the full magnitude of the moment will really hit us until the wheels have stopped on the runway. I'm not sure words will really be able to capture - for the crew and for the entire shuttle workforce³ - just how much the shuttle program has meant to us for the last 30 years.

 

Time for the Shoutout. Which constellation⁴ is named for a hunter in Greek mythology⁵? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it Capricorn, Orion, Ursa Major or Scorpio? You've got three seconds, go! Orion is the mythological⁶ hunter who can also be found in the stars. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout.Orion is also the name of a new program at NASA. It's expected to be the replacement⁷ for the space shuttle program. Americans could be headed back to the moon or into deep space toward Mars. Now those missions are a long way off. Part of the Orion program did go on the road recently though, and WTXL reporter Greg Angel got a chance to check it out.

 

It flies into space and looks at stars or moons or other planets.

 

Dmarcus McDonald is talking about Orion. This capsule, touted⁸ as the future of NASA, expected to one day carry man into deep space.

 

What this vehicle will allow us to do is hopefully go beyond lower Earth orbit, on to the moon and hopefully to Mars, ultimately, is our goal.

 

But 34 million miles from Mars, here on Earth, Orion is getting a lot of attention during this special stop in Tallahassee. Dee Arnold drove in from Valdosta, Georgia to check it out before Orion is taken to its final destination at Kennedy Space Center.

 

I just like things that go on with the space program, and I just think it's awesome⁹. I just wanted to see the next thing that NASA was going to do, the next part of space explorations.

 

Three, two, one, launch.

 

The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, as it's called, will likely be in line to replace the shuttle program.

 

We're excited and very passionate¹⁰ about the work we do on this program, and we hope to launch our first orbital test flight as early as 2013, so we're ready to get on with the next program.

 

While there's still a lot of work to be done, according to NASA, this spacecraft should eventually be capable of sustaining a crew of up to six astronauts on deep space missions that could last anywhere from six days for a lunar fly-by, to up to 900 days for a Mars exploration mission.

 

There's debate among scientists on this issue and we know you've got some opinions on it too. Where should America go next? To the moon? Trips to Mars? Somewhere else? Or should we just stay home? Send us your thoughts about the end of the shuttle program and the start of the next space program on our blog. 

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