| They are some of the
most complex machines ever built.
From a standing start they can launch a
school-
bus
sized object up so high and moving so fast that it
won't fall back down.
They have launched numerous revolutionary
satellites
that enable humans to
communicate across the globe,
to better
understand Earth's atmosphere, and to
peer into the distance universe.
They are
NASA's Space Shuttles, and NASA has recently released
large digital posters to honor them.
While the inaugural flight
was in 1981, the shuttle fleet is aging and is now
nearing retirement.
Pictured above, the space shuttle
Endeavour is shown rising
to orbit, with
patches
for each of its missions shown in a spiral.
Endeavour was named for the
HMS Endeavour,
a British research ship that explored the south Pacific Ocean in the 1700s, depicted on the lower right.
On the upper right are
panoramic windows delivered by Endeavour to the
International Space Station earlier this year.
In the background near the top is the
NGC 602 nebula as imaged by the
Hubble Space Telescope, which was serviced by Endeavour in 1993.
Posters
for
all
of
the
shuttles,
including
Atlantis,
Challenger,
Columbia,
Discovery,
Endeavour are available.
Credit:
NASA
|
