Museum Guide: Space Shuttles on Display

Here's where you can see aerospace history artifacts up close.

Monday, March 25, 2024 at 11:47 AM ET

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On October 3, 1985, STS-51J launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the first flight of the space shuttle Atlantis. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

The Space Shuttle program operated for 30 years (1981-2011), utilizing reusable vehicles to transport astronauts and supplies on 135 missions to space, including to the International Space Station.
Of the six shuttles built, two were lost during missions, and one, the *Enterprise*, was a prototype used for atmospheric testing only and never flew to space.
Following their retirement in 2011, the remaining space shuttles (*Atlantis*, *Discovery*, *Endeavour*) and various training components (*Enterprise*, ground trainer, crew compartment) became museum exhibits across the United States.

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If you are a space enthusiast, you need to make the time for an up close and personal visit with one of America’s space shuttles. Designed to be reusable vehicles capable of flying in both atmosphere and space, for 30 years the shuttles transported astronauts from many nations to space and back, often rendezvousing with the International Space Station (ISS) where they transported crew and supplies.

A total of six shuttles were built. One was designed for atmospheric testing only and never went to space, and of the remaining five, two were lost during use. The Challenger was destroyed in 1986 when a solid rocket booster exploded shortly after takeoff, and the Columbia disintegrated during reentry in 2003.