NASA's Five Space Shuttles

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 03, 2003

NASA's Five Space Shuttles

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The US space shuttle Columbia, built in 1981 at a cost of about one billion US dollars, broke up over Texas earlier Saturday with seven astronauts aboard as it returned to Earth from a 16-day mission.

Columbia was the oldest and heaviest space shuttle of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It had been refurbished three times ever since its first flight in 1981. Here is a look at the five shuttles NASA has and once had:

Columbia

Weight: 80,100 kg

First flight: April 12, 1981

Number of flights: 28 (lost February 1, 2003)

Challenger

Weight: 78,800 kg

First flight: April 4, 1983

Number of flights: 10 (exploded on launch January 28, 1986)

Discovery

Weight: 76,950 kg

First flight: August 30, 1984

Number of flights: 30

Atlantis

Weight: 76,950 kg

First flight: October 3, 1985

Number of flights: 26

Endeavor

Weight: 77,400 kg

First flight: May 7, 1992 (replacing Challenger)

Number of flights: 19

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