Challenger

Also known as OV-099, OV099, Orbiter Vehicle 99, Space Shuttle Challenger

American Space Shuttle orbiter

AI overview

The Challenger was an American Space Shuttle orbiter that was used by NASA for space missions. It is historically significant because it was destroyed in a launch accident on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members aboard.

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Described at

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Wikidata facts

Duration: 5385382
Mass: 79415
Image: STS007-32-1702.jpg
Height: 17.25
Length: 37.24

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Commons category: Space Shuttle Challenger
Commons gallery: Space Shuttle Challenger
orbits completed: 995
event distance: 41527409.6
serial number: OV-099
wingspan: 23.79
first flight: 1983-04-04
described at URL: www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/challenger-info.html

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Article

Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the commanding ship of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition that traveled the world, Challenger was the second Space Shuttle orbiter to fly into space after Columbia, and launched on its maiden flight in April 1983. It was destroyed in January 1986 soon after launch in a disaster that killed all seven crewmembers aboard.

Initially manufactured as a test article not intended for spaceflight, it was used for ground testing of the Space Shuttle orbiter's structural design. However, after NASA found that their original plan to upgrade Enterprise for spaceflight would be more expensive than upgrading Challenger, the orbiter was pressed into operational service in the Space Shuttle program. Lessons learned from the first orbital flights of Columbia led to Challenger's design possessing fewer thermal protection system tiles and a lighter fuselage and wings. This led to it being 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) lighter than Columbia, though still 5,700 pounds (2,600 kilograms) heavier than Discovery.