The Space Shuttle program is going to be retired shortly in the future, and a great icon of American history will soon be consigned to just blurbs and excerpts instead of making headlines in the news. Well, Orbital Sciences Corporation intends to preserve the memory of the space shuttle, and hence has decided to churn out miniature space shuttles – particularly those that are small enough to fit up to a quartet of astronauts, transporting them to and from the International Space Station (ISS). This mini space shuttle will not have any engine, so any worries of it combusting in space (where no one can hear you) is minimized, although not ruled out completely, and will dock to the ISS on its rear. This reusable space plane is a whole lot more cost effective compared to using a capsule-based shuttle like the SpaceX. The whole “blended lifting body” design in this mini space shuttle allows it to glide smoothly back to Earth from its orbital trajectory, instead of screaming through the atmosphere like the huge Space Shuttles. As for the brakes, parachutes are used to slow down its momentum during re-entry.
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