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Discovery Liftoff
U.S. space shuttle Discovery blasts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, heading for the International Space Station. The world's first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle launches like a rocket, maneuvers in orbit like a spacecraft, and lands like an airplane. There are three shuttles now in operation: Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.
Photograph courtesy NASA

U.S. Space Shuttles

See photos of U.S. space shuttles in this photo gallery from National Geographic.