President Richard Nixon signs a bill on January 5, 1972, authorizing $5.5 billion for the development of a reusable winged space transportation system commonly known as the space shuttle.
The reusability of the shuttle’s components was expected to provide regular access to space to many customers, while at the same time reducing costs. The spacecraft was to be designed to carry seven astronauts and up to 50,000 pounds of cargo into orbits a few hundred miles from Earth. NASA launched Columbia, the first space shuttle, in 1981. More
