| Glossary
Apollo program – US manned space program which took men
to the moon
Crew Exploration Vehicle – the term used by NASA
to describe the spacecraft which is scheduled to replace
the space shuttle
expendable - not salvaged or reused
external
tank - attached to the space shuttle orbiter; provides fuel
to the shuttle's engines during the flight to orbit
Gemini
program – US manned space program in 1965 and 1966
glider – a vehicle designed to fly without an engine
lifting bodies – aircraft or spacecraft that have no wings and gain lift
by the action of aerodynamic force
Mercury program – US manned
space program between 1961 and 1963 with the goal of putting
a man in orbit around the Earth
orbiter – something that
orbits, especially a spacecraft
retrorockets – rocket engines
that can slow a vehicle as it enters the atmosphere in preparation
for landing
solid rocket boosters – rockets using a propellant
in solid form; the shuttle orbiter needs two of these booster
rockets to reach Earth orbit |
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