Space Shuttle

STS-51-F, a Space Shuttle mission flown by Challenger in July 1985, suffered the failure of one of its main engines during ascent and became the only full mission to execute an abort-to-orbit, reaching a lower-than-planned orbit from which the Spacelab 2 experiments were still largely completed. The near-disaster, roughly six months before the Challenger accident, remains a striking example of in-flight crisis management by NASA crews and controllers.

Aviation outlet Simple Flying has listed seven commercial airports whose runways are so long they were originally designed to accommodate the NASA Space Shuttle. The feature highlights how infrastructure built for the shuttle programme has been repurposed for regular passenger and cargo aviation, drawing interest from aviation and space enthusiasts.