The first space shuttle to be launched into space on 12th April 1981 was the "Columbia". From 1983 onwards, with the completion of more orbiters, NASA considerably intensified their scientific experiments and strategic military activities in collaboration with the US Air Force. Communication and research satellites were transported into space, on-the-spot repairs were carried out and the American space station was built up and provisioned. The "Challenger" was launched into space for the first time on 4th April 1983. The "Discovery" lifted off for the first time on 30th August 1984. Since 3rd October 1985 the fourth space shuttle, the "Atlantis", has been used for 26 missions. The "Endeavour" was launched for the first time on 7th May 1992. The orbiters can remain in space for up to 28 days. Due to two tragic accidents in which the whole crew lost their lives, the "Challenger was lost in 1986 and the "Columbia" in 2003. Flights resumed after a two-year interruption and extensive modifications to the orbiters and the main tank. When it landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 9th August 2005, the 31st flight of the "Discovery" brought the 114th NASA space shuttle mission to a successful conclusion. When shuttle flights are resumed in the next few years the construction of the international space station ISS will continue. The European space lab "Columbus" will also take part.more..

When Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, Chief of Research at the Army Ballistics Missile Agency, pushed the firing button at 10.48 pm Eastern Standard Time on 31 January 1958, the age of astronautics also began for the Western world. With pushing this button, Explorer 1 was roaring sent into space by means of a Jupiter C rocket. The Jupiter C (a modified Redstone rocket) had been developed by the team around Dr. Wernher von Braun in less than three months. It was America's answer to the Sputnik. Jupiter C was a four-staged rocket. The first stage had been powered with liquid fuel whereas stages two and three had been powered by solid propellant. The fourth stage was fixed to the satellite. Explorer 1 was equipped with measuring instruments that helped to discover the Van-Allen radiation belt. This American satellite was the first with the name Explorer, but 54 others should follow. Only for two months Explorer 1 sent data to earth, but it made more than 58,000 orbits around the earth before it burnt up in the upper layers on 31 March 1970.