KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- NASA, Kennedy Space Center and State of Florida dignitaries helped launch the opening of the newest attraction at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex the Shuttle Launch Experience. Former astronauts John Young (left) and Bob Crippen (right) share their impressions with the audience. Seated on stage are Lt. Governor of Florida Jeff Kottkamp and Center Director Bill Parsons. The attraction includes a simulated launch with the sights, sounds and sensations of launching into space. Find out more about the Visitor Complex and the Shuttle Launch Experience at <b>http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/visitKSC/attractions/index.asp</b>. Photo credit: NASA/George Shelton KSC-07pd1286

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.