Space Shuttle

The space shuttle, also called the orbiter, is a transport that NASA uses to carry astronauts and supplies to and from Earth’s orbit and/or the International Space Station (ISS).  The Space Shuttle consists of three main parts that are used to make the shuttles breath-taking adventure into space successful. The first main part is the orbiter. The orbiter is the large white plane and it is the only part of the shuttle that actually goes into orbit around Earth. The orbiter is where the crew lives during their mission and it is also used to carry supplies to and from space. The second main part of the shuttle is the external tank. This fuel tank is the large reddish-orange thing that the orbiter sits on during lift off. The third main part(s) are the two white main rocket boosters that lay on the side of the external tank during lift off. For the first two minutes of the lift off, the twin rocket boosters give off 2,800,000 pounds of force that gets the shuttle off the ground and into the air. The rocket boosters detach from the external tank two minutes into flight. One of NASA's pre-flight preparations is to make sure that these parts are working at no less than 100% because if one of these parts aren't functional, than the whole launch has to be delayed.