Great Space Shuttle Pictures

Shuttle Endeavour catches a ride from a 747. Image Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas

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Say what you want about the space shuttle program, but one thing is for certain: the shuttle is very photogenic. This very nifty image was taken by a chase plane looking down as a Boeing 747 airplane ferried Space Shuttle Endeavour from California to Florida on Dec. 10, 2008, and is today’s NASA picture of the day. The backdrop is the Mojave Desert in California. This image got me looking for other interesting pictures of the space shuttle, and so I’ve compiled a few here.
Interesting Update: Just after posting this, I came across a news release from NASA that they are soliciting ideas for displaying the space shuttles after they are retired!

Space shuttle on approach to ISS. Credit: NASA

Here Space Shuttle Discovery is approaching the International Space Station in February 2003 during the pitch maneuver that allows the station crew to photograph the entire shuttle to look for any possible damage from launch debris. Breathtaking!

Space Shuttle's tail and Earth's limb. Credit: NASA

This unique image is of the space shuttle’s tail with the limb of Earth’s atmosphere in the background.

Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983. Credit: NASA.

Space Shuttle Challenger taken with a 70mm camera onboard a satellite that the shuttle brought up to space. It was taken in 1983, and so is from one of the early shuttle flights. NASA has since abandoned having their cameras put crosshairs on their images, which makes them less scienc-y and more just, wow.

Space Shuttle sonic boom.

I found this image in several places around the web, but I don’t know who actually took the image. Anyone have a clue who to credit for this image? Its the space shuttle just as its is going through the sound barrier.

Endeavour landing. Credit: NASA

This is a beautiful night landing of Space Shuttle Endeavour, and its one of my favorite shuttle images. If anyone has any more favorite shuttle images, feel free to post the links!

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/