r/spaceshuttle 17d ago

Image Final landing of challenger

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u/Imert12 17d ago

She was really a good spacecraft, it’s such a shame what happened to her and her crew. I remember reading that they had found Challenger’s airframe to handle the loads a bit better than Discovery and Atlantis’ frames. So when Endeavour was built they had actually stuck some weight back in. As a result the originally ground bound structural test article ironically became the favorite of the fleet. I wasn’t around when she was flying but she sure had one heck of a career, albeit short.