Ground tests of all orbiter subsystems were carried out to verify functionality prior to atmospheric flight.

These tests verified the flight characteristics of the orbiter design and were carried out under several aerodynamic and weight configurations.

The winged Space Shuttle orbiter was launched vertically, usually carrying four to seven astronauts ( although eight have been carried ) and up to 50, 000 lb ( 22, 700 kg ) of payload into low Earth orbit ( LEO ).

In addition, in its payload bay, Columbia again carried the DFI package, and OSS-l ( named for the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications ) which consisted of a number of instruments mounted on a Spacelab pallet, intended to obtain data on the near-Earth environment and the extent of contamination caused by the orbiter itself.

The satellite was carried in the rear of the shuttle's payload bay, and was boosted into a geosynchronous transfer orbit by a Payload Assist Module ( PAM-D ), a small solid rocket upper stage, after its release from the orbiter.

The orbiter carried the Development Flight Instrumentation ( DFI ) pallet in its forward payload bay ; this had previously flown on Columbia to carry test equipment.

The orbiter furthermore carried equipment to allow for encrypted transmissions, to be tested for use in future classified missions.

As part of the CAIB recommendations, the Shuttle carried a 50-foot inspection boom attached to the robot arm, which was used within 24 hours of launch to check the orbiter for damage.

Also carried was the Spartan 1 carrier module, designed to be deployed from the orbiter and fly free in space before being retrieved.

Another small experiment carrier located in the payload bay was the Hitchiker G-1 ( HHG-1 ), which carried three experiments to study film particles in the orbiter environment, test a new heat transfer system and determine the effects of contamination and atomic oxygen on ultraviolet optics materials, respectively.

Some of the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were also carried aboard the orbiter for the duration of the mission.

The crew's preparation for the mission had begun some thirteen months earlier in 1994, with the crew being trained in the operation of the space shuttle, the mating and docking procedures that would be required as Atlantis approached Mir later in the mission, and the management of the various scientific experiments being carried on the orbiter during the mission.

While on the pad, the two SRBs carried the entire weight of the external tank and orbiter and transmitted the weight load through their structure to the mobile launch platform.

Fobos-Grunt also carried the Chinese Mars orbiter Yinghuo-1 and the tiny Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment funded by the Planetary Society.

The orbiter was lifted up on a sling very similar to the one used at Kennedy Space Center and placed inside the Dynamic Test Stand building, and there mated to the Vertical Mate Ground Vibration Test tank ( VMGVT-ET ), which in turn was attached to a set of inert Solid Rocket Boosters ( SRB ) to form a complete shuttle launch stack, and marked the first time in the program's history that all Space Shuttle elements, an Orbiter, an External Tank ( ET ), and two SRBs, were mated together.

Each spacecraft was composed of two main parts: an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and a lander designed to study the planet from the surface.

Four solar panel wings extended from the axis of the orbiter, the distance from tip to tip of two oppositely extended solar panels was 9. 75 m.

The power to the two orbiter craft was provided by eight 1. 57 × 1. 23 m solar panels, two on each wing.

Starting with two failures in 1969, the heavier Proton-K rocket was used to launch larger 5 tonne spacecraft, consisting of an orbiter and a lander to Mars.

To resolve this problem, two landers were launched with orbiter type buses, but without fuel to enter orbit.

The instruments of the orbiter consisted of two vidicon cameras for imaging ( VIS ), an infrared spectrometer for water vapor mapping ( MAWD ) and infrared radiometers for thermal mapping ( IRTM ).

The lander had two means of returning data to Earth: a relay link up to the orbiter and back, and by using a direct link to Earth.

Right before landing, two of the orbiter's three auxiliary power units caught fire due to a hydrazine leak, but the orbiter nonetheless landed successfully.

However, the transit did not interfere with Cassini orbiter or Huygens probe, for two reasons.

Huygens was programmed to transmit telemetry and scientific data to the Cassini orbiter for relay to Earth using two redundant S-band radio systems, referred to as Channel A and B, or Chain A and B.

The orbiter, which includes the main engines, and the two solid rocket boosters, are reused after several months of refitting work for each launch.

MRO was one of two missions being considered for the 2003 Mars launch window ; however, during the proposal process the orbiter lost against what became known as the Mars Exploration Rovers.

Three cameras, two spectrometers and a radar are included on the orbiter along with two " science-facility instruments ", which use data from engineering subsystems to collect science data.

The orbiter then began a series of maneuvers to meet up with the first of the two satellites to be recovered, Palapa B-2.

Galileo had two major components: an orbiter which examined Jupiter and its four largest moons for eight years, and a probe which descended into the Jovian atmosphere to take direct samplings before being destroyed by the gas giant's heat and pressure.

After several ham radio contacts around the country and work in a vacuum bag designed to ease the body's readaptation to Earth's environment, the orbiter crew made up of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Richard Searfoss and Mission Specialist William McArthur oversaw a short firing of one of the orbital maneuvering system engines to drop the low end of Columbia's orbit from 150 to 142 nautical miles ( 278 to ) to increase the landing opportunities should the mission be extended for weather or a system problem that would keep the crew in orbit two extra days.

* Narrow Angle Camera, one of two cameras which form part of the Imaging Science Subsystem in the NASA Cassini orbiter

During five days of docked operations, about 1, 500 pounds ( 680 kilograms ) of water and two tons of scientific equipment, logistical material and resupply items transferred to Mir ; experiment samples and miscellaneous equipment brought over to orbiter.

Although two spacewalks were planned for the mission, they were both canceled after problems with the airlock hatch prevented astronauts Tom Jones and Tammy Jernigan from exiting the orbiter.

Further progress was delayed while two windows on the orbiter were replaced ; NASA feared that they might be susceptible to breakage after seven and eight flights.

Unlike the Space Shuttle orbiter, which had to be lifted and assembled together with several other heavy components ( a large external tank, plus two solid rocket boosters ), VentureStar was to be simply inspected in a hangar like an airplane.

Subsequently, the name 2001 Mars Odyssey was selected for the orbiter as a specific tribute to the vision of space exploration shown in works by Arthur C. Clarke, including 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The orbiter helped analyze potential landing sites for the rovers and performed the same task for NASA's Phoenix mission, which landed on Mars in May, 2008.

* 1979 – The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

The original name for the orbiter was Constitution but was renamed due to Star Trek fans and the personal intervention of President Gerald Ford.

NASA planned to refit the prototype orbiter Enterprise ( OV-101 ), used for flight testing, as the second operational orbiter.

Challenger was also the first orbiter to have a head-up display system for use in the descent phase of a mission.

Refitting Enterprise for spaceflight would have involved dismantling the orbiter and returning the sections to subcontractors across the country.

In mid-1976 the orbiter was used for ground vibration tests, allowing engineers to compare data from an actual flight vehicle with theoretical models.

Also, Columbia was the female symbol of the U. S. After construction, the orbiter arrived at Kennedy Space Center on March 25, 1979, to prepare for its first launch.

Columbia was also the only orbiter not delivered with head-up displays for the Commander and Pilot, although these were incorporated after STS-9.

After more than twenty organizations submitted proposals to NASA for the display of an orbiter, NASA announced that Enterprise will go to New York's Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, Discovery will go the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum, Atlantis will remain in the Visitor Complex at Kennedy Space Center, and Endeavour will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles ,.

While Space Shuttle Atlantis was refurbished and relaunched in 53 days between missions STS-51-J and STS-61-B, generally months were required to repair an orbiter for a new mission.

* March 25 – The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center, to be prepared for its first launch.

The first experimental orbiter was delivered for atmospheric handling test flights in 1976, and the first launch took place on April 12, 1981, with Columbia and STS-1, the first Shuttle orbital flight.

Although the debris did not strike the orbiter, the program was grounded once again for this reason.

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, in its report, noted the reduced risk to the crew when a shuttle flies to the International Space Station ( ISS ), as the station can be used as a safe haven for the crew awaiting rescue in the event that damage to the shuttle orbiter on ascent makes it unsafe for re-entry.

* A 36-wheeled transport trailer, the Orbiter Transfer System, originally built for the U. S. Air Force's launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California ( since then converted for Delta IV rockets ) would transport the orbiter from the landing facility to the launch pad, which allowed both " stacking " and launch without utilizing a separate VAB-style building and crawler-transporter roadway.

Prior to the closing of the Vandenberg facility, orbiters were transported from the OPF to the VAB on their undercarriages, only to be raised when the orbiter was being lifted for attachment to the SRB / ET stack.

In April 2010, the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation ( APOLLO ) team from the University of California at San Diego used the LRO images to locate the orbiter closely enough for laser range ( distance ) measurements.