The development of the Space Shuttle provided many opportunities to explore the universe. There is so much about other planets and space that we don't know. Space shuttles allow people to travel into space and send objects into space. There have been six space shuttles: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. They are all currently on display in various museums and centers in the United States with the exception of the two, Challenger and Columbia, which were destroyed in flight. Space shuttles not only allow for greater exploration, but also allow supplies to be brought to a space station. The first space shuttle ever, named Enterprise, was built in 1976.1 It was originally developed as a test shuttle, without the capability of real spaceflight, and was the only one of the six shuttles that never made a trip outside the atmosphere. The Enterprise has currently been on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City since July 2012.2 Even though the Enterprise never made it to space, it is still useful for further Space Shuttle research. For example, after the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia, the Enterprise was studied and tested to discover the cause of the accident.3 After the Enterprise, construction of a new type of spacecraft began. “The Space Shuttle components include: the orbiter, three main engines, the external tank and two solid rocket boosters. Overall, the launch weight is approximately 4.5 million pounds.”4 The first ship to be built this way was Columbia. The difference between this and the Enterprise was that the Enterprise had no engines or a heat shield. The orbiter is the aluminum part of the Space Shuttle, built to last over 100 flights, the...... middle of paper......Franklyn M. The Story of the Space Shuttle: Columbia and Beyond. New York: Philomel Books, 1979. Print. Brown, Irene. “Well done Galileo, a tribute to the little spaceship that could.” Popular Science 261.5 (2002): 1. eLibrary. Network. December 13, 2013.Collins, Maria. "Ready for the close-up." Smithsonian 11 (2005): 1. eLibrary. Network. December 11, 2013.Petty, John Ira. "Space Shuttle Components." Spacecraft: Space Shuttle Orbiter. NASA. Network. December 12, 2013. Smithsonian Institution. After Sputnik: 50 Years of the Space Age. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. Print. “Space Shuttle Overview: Challenger (OV-099).” Kennedy Space Center. NASA, April 12, 2013. Web. December 13, 2013. Voice of America News/FIND. "The first Space Shuttle goes on public display." elibrary.bigchalk.com. VOA News, July 19, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013.Walter, William J. Space Age. New York: Random House, Inc, 1992. Print.