u/tybarious

"In a perfect on-time launch at 7:17 p.m. EDT, Space Shuttle Discovery trails a blaze of flame amid clouds of smoke and steam as it leaps into the night sky. The launch of mission STS-92 carries a crew of seven on a construction flight to the International Space Station. Discovery also carries a payload that includes the Integrated Truss Structure Z-1, first of 10 trusses that will form the backbone of the Space Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter that will provide a Shuttle docking port for solar array installation on the sixth Station flight and Lab installation on the seventh Station flight. Discovery’s landing is expected Oct. 22 at 2:10 p.m. EDT"

Date: October 11, 1977

NASA ID: EC77-8705

Date: October 11, 1994

...to Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, where it will undergo six months of inspections, modifications, and systems upgrades. The STS-68 11-day mission was devoted to radar imaging of Earth's geological features with the Space Radar Laboratory. The orbiter is surrounded by equipment and personnel that make up the ground support convoy that services the space vehicles as soon as they land."

NASA ID: EC94-42789-4, EC94-42789-5

One of Rockwell's offer to NASA to replace Challenger (OV-099) was to build two shuttles for the price of one (OV-105 and OV-106).

During the construction of OV-103 Discovery and OV-104 Atlantis, NASA opted to have Rockwell build structural spares to facilitate the repair of an orbiter if one was damaged during an accident. These spares were given the serial number of OV-105.

At the time of their construction, it was planned for one shuttle (OV-103 Discovery) to be transferred to the USAF and used exclusively for Department of Defense classified missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the west coast. (That's a subject for another post.) There is some speculation that OV-105's construction was funded so NASA could persuade Congress at a later point to complete it and keep the shuttle fleet at 4 operational orbiters.

NASA was at first interesting, since they originally planned to have a fleet of 5 orbiters. There was at one point a plan that included another shuttle, OV-107, a block II version with more upgrades as listed in the chart below.

Unfortunately, NASA was only given funding for operating 4 shuttles and decided to only build one (OV-105 Endeavour). Rockwell continued to hold out hope NASA and Congress might change their minds. To replace the structural spares used for Endeavour, NASA contracted Rockwell to start work on a new set of spares, which were given the designation of OV-106. The plan was to complete them in 3 years.

There was little progress made before NASA decided to cut the funding in 1993 and 1994. All the parts less than 85% were ordered scrapped and the parts over 85% were completed but very little was at this point. NASA ordered the destruction of shuttle tooling since they did not want to pay for their storage.

It should be noted, most of the proposed upgrades for OV-106 and OV-107 were implemented into the existing shuttle fleet during the 1990s and 2000s.

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Date: August - October 1979

Photos from Kodachrome Slides.

Date: October 9, 1968

"A view of the 363-foot high Saturn V launch vehicle that will carry Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders into space. The launch vehicle is being moved from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad A, Complex 39. Apollo 8, scheduled for launch in December, will be the first manned Saturn V flight."

NASA ID: DF-ST-84-05925, 68PC-147

Photographed on October 2, 1913.

"In this photograph, you can see the ship's name on the stern, three installed 5"/51 cal. guns, and both of the cage masts, which had not yet been completed.

Note: her boilers are lit and were probably testing her steam and electrical systems."

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Date: October 4, 1988

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Rockwell concept for expanding the cargo capabilities of the Space Shuttle in the 1990s. New wings and an additional cargo section would be added to the orbiter.

"Another option for relieving payload dimension constraints is the 'stretched' orbiter concept. This configuration, illustrated below, would require use of an uprated booster. In the concept illustrated, the payload bay is stretched 5 meters (16.5 feet) to accommodate a 23-meter-long (76-foot), 45,360-kilogram (100,000-pound) payload. The modification approach, also illustrated here, was conceived to utilize as much existing structure as possible. The forward fuselage, crew module, mid fuselage, aft fuselage, and wing panels are retained. A new fuselage section is installed between the mid fuselage and the aft fuselage. Inboard wing panels 157 centimeters (62 inches) wide are spliced between the fuselage and baseline wing panels. A new wing box carry- through structure, landing gear, and wing glove structure are required. The resulting configuration is aerodynamically almost identical to the present orbiter except for its finer fuselage, which improves aerodynamic performance."

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Date: 1987

"The tests marked the first time ever that the entire shuttle complement (including Orbiter, external tank, and solid rocket boosters) were mated vertically."

Date: October 4, 1978

NASA ID: 7992407

Date: October 3, 1985

"Space Shuttle flight 51-J marks achievement of another important milestone for the Space Trans portation System (STS): completion of the United States manned launch vehicle fleet.

This twenty-first STS flight is the first mission for the Space Shuttle Atlantis, the fourth Space Shuttle orbiter. Atlantis joins Columbia, with six flights; Challenger, veteran of eight space missions; and Discovery, which has flown six times.

This four-orbiter fleet will serve as the primary launch system for United States spacecraft well into the next decade, when two dozen Space Shuttle flights will be flown each year. These vehicles will transport spacecraft for the first legs of journeys to explore Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and the previously unseen poles of the Sun. They will deploy scores of communications satellites, carry hundreds of scientific experiments, and serve as construction bases for the United States Space Station. Citizens of more than a dozen nations will fly in space on these four Space Shuttles.

Like its sister ships, Atlantis was assembled by Rockwell International in Palmdale, California, with components manufactured in 46 states.

Space Shuttle mission 51-J carries four crew members, half of whom are space flight veterans. Commander Karol Bobko was the pilot for STS-6, and commander for mission 51-D. Mission special- ist Robert Stewart also flew on flight 41-B. Pilot Ronald J. Grabe and mission specialist David Hilmers are space flight rookies.

A payload built for the United States Department of Defense is flying on this first flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis."

Date: September 10, 1984

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Date: August 8, 1992

This photo was sent to me on my Tumblr blog by a follower, commodorez (link to their blog). They had saved it from a Twitter account but couldn't remember the account name. It was likely taken by a NASA employee.

Date: 1965

North American Photo: NAR-D120B - 9155-9C

"FLIGHT DECK. The flight deck of the orbiter was one of the most complex and critical areas of fabrication. Here a technician is installing wiring and connectors on the flight deck of the Columbia orbiter."