Space Shuttle: 1981 to 2011

NASA's Space Shuttle orbiters were the first spacecraft capable of routinely launching into orbit like rockets and then returning to Earth as gliders. They were the main element of NASA's Space Transportation System, and were used for scientific research and space applications, such as deploying and repairing satellites.
On its own, a Shuttle could carry to orbit a payload of about 65,000 pounds. Typical missions had crews of about seven astronauts, orbited at altitudes of around 150 to 250 miles, and stayed in space for ten days to two weeks.

Space Shuttle Historic Recordation
http://www.nasa.gov/agency/crm/shuttle/index.html

Space Shuttle Recordation Oral History Project
https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history
/oral_histories/sts-r.htm

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft / Solid Rocket Booster Recovery Oral History Project
https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/
oral_histories/sca-srb.htm

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Recordation
http://www.nasa.gov/content/shuttle-carrier-aircraft-recordation/

Solid Rocket Booster Retrieval Ships Recordation
http://www.nasa.gov/content/srb-retrieval-ships/

White Sands Space Harbor, 1976 - 2011
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Level II Documentation
http://www.nasa.gov/history/white_sands/

Space Shuttle Program Tacit Knowledge Capture Project
https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history
/oral_histories/ssp.htm

Wings in Orbit:
The Scientific and Engineering Legacies
of the Space Shuttle
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/wingsinorbit/index.html

NASA U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture Program
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/spacesuits/index.htm

Space Shuttle Missions Summary (PDF 82MB)
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/reference/TM-2011-216142.pdf

Toward a History of the Space Shuttle:
An Annotated Bibliography:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/shuttle_bibliography_2_detail.html

Wings into Space: The Flight of STS-1,
April 12-14, 1981
http://history.nasa.gov/sts1/index.html

20th Anniversary of STS-1
http://history.nasa.gov/sts1/index.html

KSC Shuttle Operations
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/index.html

Shuttle Press Kits: 1981 - 2002
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/shuttle_pk/shuttle_press.htm

Shuttle Press Kits: 1997 - 2011
http://www.nasa.gov/news/media/presskits/

JSC Shuttle Mission Archive
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/

KSC Shuttle Mission Summaries, Launch,
and Landing Archive, 1999-2004
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/
archives/1999-2004.html

Shuttle Operational Data Book
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/green/

Shuttle Status Reports
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/index.html

Space Shuttle Status Reports
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/
status/2005/index.html

NASA History Information on STS-51L/
Challenger Accident
http://history.nasa.gov/sts51l.html

Space Shuttle Orbiters - Names
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/
k-4/features/F_Names_of_Shuttle_Orbiters.html

KSC Discovery Orbiter Fact Page
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/
orbiters/orbitersdis.html

KSC Atlantis Orbiter Fact Page
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/
orbiters/orbitersatl.html

KSC Endeavour Orbiter Fact Page
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/
orbiters/orbitersend.html

KSC Challenger Orbiter Fact Page
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/
orbiters/challenger-info.html

Life Sciences Data Archive Searchable Database
http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov

Space Shuttle Basics
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics/history/index.html