The STS Launch NASA

The STS Launch NASA


STS Launch

The first orbital mission of the Space Transportation System lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981.

The purpose of the Space Transportation System (STS) was twofold: to reduce the cost of spaceflight by replacing the current method of launching capsules on expendable rockets with reusable spacecraft; and to support ambitious follow-on programs including permanent orbiting space stations around the Earth and Moon, and a human landing mission to Mars.