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 U.S. Space Shuttle program operated for 30 years (1981-2011) with six reusable vehicles, two of which were lost during missions, transporting astronauts and supplies to space.
After their retirement in 2011, the remaining space shuttles became museum exhibits, allowing the public to experience these artifacts of aerospace history.
Operational orbiters *Atlantis*, *Discovery*, and *Endeavour* are displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (Florida), Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (Virginia), and California Science Center (Los Angeles), respectively, with *Endeavour* currently off display for new exhibit construction.
The test vehicle *Enterprise* is at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum (New York City), while full-scale ground trainers and crew compartments are on display at the Museum of Flight (Seattle) and the Lone Star Flight Museum (Houston).

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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.