5 posters for 5 space shuttles

In the Image of the Day on 16 August 2010, shown above, we explained that 5 posters had been put on display in the launch control room of Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in order to pay tribute to NASA’s 5 space shuttles: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. These graphic creations are now available on the American Space Agency’s Internet website, ready and waiting to be downloaded and printed. We would reiterate that these files are in JPEG format (3,000x2,400 pixels) so you can also ask any photographic specialist to print the posters on photographic paper! These 5 superb artwork examples were created by Amy Lombardo (Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour) and Lynda Brammer (Challenger). The mission patches are reproduced for each of the space shuttles and are featured in the poster.

Each poster comes in two versions: full frame or with a white border including the name of the space shuttle in question, NASA’s logo and several captions. Here, you can see an example of both versions for Atlantis, shown side by side, (please note that a black frame has been added for improved clarity). Underneath each of the posters (see below), we give the direct link for the “Poster full frame” and the “Poster with border”.
Crédit : NASA/Amy Lombardo/mise en page Enjoy Space

As the first space shuttle to be launched into orbit, Columbia (28 flights) is symbolically shown above an image of the Earth. On the right, a photograph of the STS-107 mission crew pays tribute to the 7 astronauts who died at the end of this mission on 1 February 2003.
Links to Poster full frame - Poster with border

Challenger-poster

With only 10 missions to its credit, Challenger is the space shuttle in NASA’s fleet that accomplished the lowest number of orbital journeys; this is because it was destroyed during its tenth blast-off for flight STS-51L on 28 January 1986. The crew photograph pays tribute to the 7 astronauts killed during this tragedy. Worthy of note is the image of the historic first space walk using an MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) by STS-41B mission in 1984.
Links to Poster full frame - Poster with border

Discovery-poster

Discovery (39 flights including STS-133 next November) shows this emblematic image where it is facing forwards as it approaches the ISS and then performs its pitch manoeuvre so that the Station crew can photograph its thermal shield for verification (the background has however been modified). The two patches highlighted are for STS-26 and STS-114, the two return-to-flight missions after the Challenger and Columbia accidents.
Links to Poster full frame - Poster with border

Atlantis-poster

Atlantis (32 flights) logically highlights its participation in missions to the Russian Mir Station, the International Space Station and Hubble. The photographs of Venus and Jupiter (top right) represent the Magellan and Galileo probes respectively sent to these two planets by means of flights STS-30 and STS-34. If the additional STS-135 mission is confirmed for the summer of 2011 (the American Congress has still to vote the necessary budgets), the poster will very probably be modified in order to integrate this 33rd orbital journey.
Links to Poster full frame - Poster with border

Endeavour-poster

The most recent of the space shuttles, Endeavour, will have completed a total of 25 missions once it has accomplished the STS-134 flight in February 2011. On the right, the sail boat is a reminder that this space shuttle owes its name to a British vessel, the one with which the famous sailor James Cook (1728-1779) made his first exploratory journey of the Pacific Ocean. On the left, we can see the Cupola, the observation post with 7 portholes that Endeavour delivered to the ISS during flight STS-130.
Links to Poster full frame - Poster with border

Published on 6 September 2010

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