Space Shuttle Overview

America's Space Shuttle is a key to our future in space through this century and the next. As a major transportation link between Earth and space, the reusable Shuttle orbiters will continue to perform commercial, scientific, and national security missions. In addition, the Space Shuttle's role will expand to include other tasks. 

     As a test bed for space systems and hardware, the Shuttle permits evaluation of components suitable for future commercial and government programs, such as the International Space Station and other high-technology projects. For example, the Shuttle has developed and tested a new compact solar array system planned for use on large space structures and demonstrated assembly techniques for the International Space Station. 

       The Shuttle also provides a unique microgravity space environment for materials processing research and commercial opportunities. Crystal growth experiments will lead to the design of new antibiotics and anti-tumor drugs. 

       The Shuttle will play an important role in assembling the International Space Station and other large structures, exercising its remote manipulator system and crew capabilities for working outside the orbiter. The shuttle will also service orbiting space systems. 

       The Shuttle has affected our lives on Earth from its inception. Its development represented a multidisciplinary endeavor with nationwide participation. Its missions to date have touched our lives in areas ranging from communication to science and medicine. And its future missions promise even more profound breakthroughs in the use of space to benefit people on Earth.