Space Shuttle Program
The Space Shuttle is developed by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration. NASA coordinates and manages the Space Transportation
System (NASA's name for the overall Shuttle program), including
intergovernmental agency requirements and international and joint
projects. NASA also oversees the launch and space flight requirements
for civilian and commercial use.
The Space Shuttle system consists of four primary elements: an
orbiter spacecraft, two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB), an external
tank to house fuel and oxidizer and three Space Shuttle main engines.
The orbiter is built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation
Systems Division, Downey, Calif., which also has responsibility
for the integration of the overall space transportation system.
Both orbiter and integration contracts are under the direction of
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The SRB motors are built by the Wasatch Division of Morton Thiokol
Corp., Brigham City, Utah, and are assembled, checked out and refurbished
by United Space Boosters Inc., Booster Production Co., Kennedy Space
Center. Cape Canaveral, Fla. The external tank is built by Martin
Marietta Corp. at its Michoud facility, New Orleans, La., and the
Space Shuttle main engines are built by Rockwell's Rocketdyne Division,
Canoga Park, Calif. These contracts are under the direction of NASA's
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.