Space Shuttle orbiter
E41065
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.
All labels observed (8)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Space Shuttle orbiter canonical | 19 |
| Space Shuttle payload bay | 5 |
| Space Shuttle | 3 |
| NASA Space Shuttle orbiter | 1 |
| NASA Space Shuttle orbiters | 1 |
| Space Shuttle (for NASA crew transport role) | 1 |
| Space Shuttle fleet | 1 |
| Space Shuttle orbiters | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T310162 — 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 orbiter Context triple: [Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, vehicleType, Space Shuttle orbiter]
-
A.
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.
-
B.
Dragon spacecraft
The Dragon spacecraft is SpaceX’s reusable cargo and crew capsule designed to transport supplies and astronauts between Earth and the International Space Station and other orbital destinations.
-
C.
LC-39B
LC-39B is a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center that has supported major crewed and uncrewed space missions, including Space Shuttle flights and later Space Launch System operations.
-
D.
Starliner spacecraft
The Starliner spacecraft is Boeing’s crewed space capsule designed to transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit, including missions to the International Space Station.
-
E.
Space Transportation System
Space Transportation System is the formal name for NASA’s Space Shuttle program, which developed and operated reusable spacecraft for human spaceflight and orbital missions from 1981 to 2011.
- 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 orbiter Target entity description: 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.
-
A.
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.
-
B.
Dragon spacecraft
The Dragon spacecraft is SpaceX’s reusable cargo and crew capsule designed to transport supplies and astronauts between Earth and the International Space Station and other orbital destinations.
-
C.
LC-39B
LC-39B is a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center that has supported major crewed and uncrewed space missions, including Space Shuttle flights and later Space Launch System operations.
-
D.
Starliner spacecraft
The Starliner spacecraft is Boeing’s crewed space capsule designed to transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit, including missions to the International Space Station.
-
E.
Space Transportation System
Space Transportation System is the formal name for NASA’s Space Shuttle program, which developed and operated reusable spacecraft for human spaceflight and orbital missions from 1981 to 2011.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (54)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
crewed spacecraft
ⓘ
orbital spaceplane ⓘ reusable spacecraft ⓘ winged spacecraft ⓘ |
| countryOfOperator |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| crewCapacity | up to 8 astronauts ⓘ |
| firstOperationalFlight | STS-5 with Columbia ⓘ |
| firstOrbiterName | Columbia ⓘ |
| hasComponent |
Orbital Maneuvering System pods
ⓘ
Space Shuttle Main Engines ⓘ crew cabin ⓘ landing gear ⓘ payload bay ⓘ thermal protection system ⓘ vertical stabilizer ⓘ wings ⓘ |
| landingMethod | runway landing ⓘ |
| landingSites |
Edwards Air Force Base
ⓘ
Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility ⓘ White Sands Space Harbor (former Shuttle landing site) ⓘ
surface form:
White Sands Space Harbor
|
| launchConfiguration |
flanked by two Solid Rocket Boosters
ⓘ
mounted to External Tank ⓘ |
| manufacturer |
Rockwell International
ⓘ
Rockwell International ⓘ
surface form:
Rockwell International Space Division
|
| notableAccident |
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
ⓘ
surface form:
Challenger disaster
Columbia disaster ⓘ |
| operator | NASA ⓘ |
| otherOrbiterName |
Atlantis
ⓘ
Space Shuttle Challenger ⓘ
surface form:
Challenger
Discovery ⓘ Space Shuttle Endeavour ⓘ
surface form:
Endeavour
|
| partOf | Space Shuttle ⓘ |
| payloadBayDiameter | about 4.6 meters ⓘ |
| payloadBayLength | about 18.3 meters ⓘ |
| program |
NASA Space Shuttle program
ⓘ
surface form:
Space Shuttle program
|
| programStart | 1970s ⓘ |
| propulsionType |
Orbital Maneuvering System
ⓘ
Reaction Control System ⓘ liquid-fueled main engines ⓘ |
| reentryMethod | gliding unpowered reentry ⓘ |
| retirementReason | end of Space Shuttle program ⓘ |
| reusability | designed for multiple flights ⓘ |
| status | retired ⓘ |
| testVehicleName | Enterprise ⓘ |
| typicalCrewSize | 5 to 7 astronauts ⓘ |
| typicalOrbit | low Earth orbit ⓘ |
| usedFor |
International Space Station logistics
ⓘ
Spacelab missions ⓘ microgravity research ⓘ satellite deployment ⓘ satellite servicing ⓘ space station assembly ⓘ transporting astronauts to low Earth orbit ⓘ transporting cargo to low Earth orbit ⓘ |
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 orbiter Description of subject: 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.
Referenced by (32)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle (for NASA crew transport role)
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle payload bay
this entity surface form:
NASA Space Shuttle orbiter
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle orbiters
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle payload bay
subject surface form:
Shuttle Landing Facility
PM A of the ISS (Pressurized Mating Adapter-2 on Destiny)
→
enablesDockingOf
→
Space Shuttle orbiter
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle payload bay
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle
this entity surface form:
NASA Space Shuttle orbiters
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle payload bay
this entity surface form:
Space Shuttle payload bay