Space Shuttle
E208923
The Space Shuttle was NASA’s reusable spacecraft system used from 1981 to 2011 to carry astronauts and cargo to low Earth orbit, including missions to the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.
All labels observed (10)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1565566 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Space Shuttle Context triple: [Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B, supportsLaunchVehicle, Space Shuttle]
-
A.
Space Shuttle orbiter
The Space Shuttle orbiter was NASA’s reusable winged spacecraft that carried astronauts and cargo to and from low Earth orbit as part of the Space Shuttle program.
-
B.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis was a NASA orbiter that flew numerous missions from 1985 to 2011, including the final flight of the Space Shuttle program.
-
C.
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired NASA orbiter best known for launching the Hubble Space Telescope and conducting numerous key missions in the Space Shuttle program.
-
D.
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour was NASA’s fifth and final operational space shuttle orbiter, built as a replacement for Challenger and flown on numerous missions including satellite deployments and construction flights to the International Space Station.
-
E.
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia was NASA’s first operational space shuttle orbiter, notable for pioneering reusable spacecraft missions and tragically disintegrating during reentry on the STS-107 mission in 2003.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Space Shuttle Target entity description: The Space Shuttle was NASA’s reusable spacecraft system used from 1981 to 2011 to carry astronauts and cargo to low Earth orbit, including missions to the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.
-
A.
Space Shuttle orbiter
The Space Shuttle orbiter was NASA’s reusable winged spacecraft that carried astronauts and cargo to and from low Earth orbit as part of the Space Shuttle program.
-
B.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis was a NASA orbiter that flew numerous missions from 1985 to 2011, including the final flight of the Space Shuttle program.
-
C.
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired NASA orbiter best known for launching the Hubble Space Telescope and conducting numerous key missions in the Space Shuttle program.
-
D.
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour was NASA’s fifth and final operational space shuttle orbiter, built as a replacement for Challenger and flown on numerous missions including satellite deployments and construction flights to the International Space Station.
-
E.
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia was NASA’s first operational space shuttle orbiter, notable for pioneering reusable spacecraft missions and tragically disintegrating during reentry on the STS-107 mission in 2003.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (77)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
NASA space program
ⓘ
crewed spacecraft ⓘ orbital spaceplane ⓘ partially reusable launch system ⓘ |
| abbreviation | STS ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | Space Transportation System ⓘ |
| cargoBayDiameter | 4.6 meters ⓘ |
| cargoBayLength | 18.3 meters ⓘ |
| ChallengerDisasterDate | 1986-01-28 ⓘ |
| ColumbiaDisasterDate | 2003-02-01 ⓘ |
| countryOfOperator |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| crewCapacity | up to 7 astronauts ⓘ |
| developedBy |
Rockwell International
ⓘ
United Space Alliance ⓘ |
| firstFlight | STS-1 ⓘ |
| firstFlightDate | 1981-04-12 ⓘ |
| fleetMember |
Space Shuttle Atlantis
ⓘ
Space Shuttle Challenger ⓘ Space Shuttle Columbia ⓘ Space Shuttle Discovery ⓘ Space Shuttle Endeavour ⓘ |
| governingAgency |
Johnson Space Center
ⓘ
surface form:
NASA Johnson Space Center
|
| guidanceControlCenter |
Johnson Space Center
ⓘ
surface form:
Mission Control Center Houston
|
| heatShieldType | thermal protection tiles ⓘ |
| inServiceFrom | 1981 ⓘ |
| inServiceUntil | 2011 ⓘ |
| landingMode | unpowered horizontal landing ⓘ |
| landingSurface | runway ⓘ |
| lastFlight | STS-135 ⓘ |
| lastFlightDate | 2011-07-08 ⓘ |
| launchConfiguration |
external tank
ⓘ
orbiter ⓘ two solid rocket boosters ⓘ |
| launchSite |
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A
ⓘ
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B ⓘ |
| maximumCrew | 8 ⓘ |
| notableAccident |
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
ⓘ
surface form:
Challenger disaster
Columbia disaster ⓘ |
| notableMission |
STS-107 Columbia final mission
ⓘ
STS-135 ⓘ
surface form:
STS-135 final Shuttle mission
STS-31 Hubble deployment ⓘ Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission 1 ⓘ
surface form:
STS-61 Hubble servicing
STS-88 ⓘ
surface form:
STS-88 first ISS assembly flight
|
| operator | NASA ⓘ |
| orbitRegime | low Earth orbit ⓘ |
| primaryMissionType |
cargo transport
ⓘ
crew transport ⓘ low Earth orbit operations ⓘ satellite deployment ⓘ space science missions ⓘ space station assembly ⓘ |
| programStart | 1972 ⓘ |
| propellant |
liquid hydrogen
ⓘ
liquid oxygen ⓘ |
| propulsion | Space Shuttle Main Engines ⓘ |
| retirementReason |
high operating cost
ⓘ
safety concerns ⓘ |
| reusability |
expendable external tank
ⓘ
reusable orbiter ⓘ reusable solid rocket boosters ⓘ |
| solidBoosterPropellant | ammonium perchlorate composite propellant ⓘ |
| status | retired ⓘ |
| successorProgram |
Commercial Crew Program
ⓘ
Orion spacecraft ⓘ
surface form:
Orion spacecraft program
|
| totalAstronautsFlown | over 350 ⓘ |
| totalFlights | 135 ⓘ |
| typicalCrew | 5 ⓘ |
| typicalInclinationRange | 28.5 degrees to 57 degrees ⓘ |
| usedFor |
Department of Defense missions
ⓘ
Hubble Space Telescope deployment ⓘ Hubble Space Telescope servicing ⓘ International Space Station assembly ⓘ International Space Station resupply ⓘ Spacelab missions ⓘ microgravity research ⓘ satellite repair ⓘ satellite retrieval ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Space Shuttle Description of subject: The Space Shuttle was NASA’s reusable spacecraft system used from 1981 to 2011 to carry astronauts and cargo to low Earth orbit, including missions to the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.
Referenced by (44)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle stack with External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters
subject surface form:
Launch Pad 39A
subject surface form:
Launch Pad 39B
subject surface form:
Launch Pad 39A
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle era
this entity surface form:
NASA Space Shuttle
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle fleet
subject surface form:
Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications-2
subject surface form:
Space Shuttle Discovery
this entity surface form:
NASA Space Shuttle fleet
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle (for NASA ISS crew transport role)
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle (for NASA crewed ISS access)
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle launches
subject surface form:
Vehicle Assembly Building
subject surface form:
Defense Support Program