ON THIS DAY SEPTEMBER 29 2023

This Day in History: September 29

Featured Event

1988







Discovery was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, marking a resumption of NASA's space shuttle program, which had been suspended following the Challenger explosion in 1986.


space shuttle, also called Space Transportation System, partially reusable rocket-launched vehicle designed to go into orbit around Earth, to transport people and cargo to and from orbiting spacecraft, and to glide to a runway landing on its return to Earth’s surface that was developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Formally called the Space Transportation System (STS), it lifted off into space for the first time on April 12, 1981, and made 135 flights until the program ended in 2011.



U.S. space shuttle



space shuttle
The U.S. space shuttle consisted of three major components: a winged orbiter that carried both crew and cargo; an external tank containing liquid hydrogen (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) for the orbiter’s three main rocket engines; and a pair of large, solid-propellant, strap-on booster rockets. At liftoff the entire system weighed 2 million kilograms (4.4 million pounds) and stood 56 metres (184 feet) high. During launch the boosters and the orbiter’s main engines fired together, producing about 31,000 kilonewtons (7 million pounds) of thrust. The boosters were jettisoned about two minutes after liftoff and were returned to Earth by parachute for reuse. After attaining 99 percent of its orbital velocity, the orbiter had exhausted the propellants in the external tank. It released the tank, which disintegrated on reentering the atmosphere. Although the orbiter lifted off vertically like an expendable rocket launcher, it made an unpowered descent and landing similar to a glider.


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Featured Biography

Kevin Durant
American basketball player







Kevin Durant, in full Kevin Wayne Durant, (born September 29, 1988, Washington, D.C., U.S.), American professional basketball player who won the 2013–14 National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and established himself as one of the best players of his generation while only in his early 20s.
Durant was a basketball prodigy as a youth, becoming one of the best prospects in the thriving Washington, D.C.-area basketball scene by his early years in high school and an All-American in his senior season. He attended the University of Texas, where as a freshman he led the Big 12 Conference in scoring average (25.8 points per game), rebounding average (11.1 rebounds per game), and blocked shots (67). He was also a first-team All-American and the first freshman to earn consensus national College Player of the Year honours. He elected to end his college career after just one season and was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the second overall pick of the 2007 NBA draft.Kevin Durant, in full Kevin Wayne Durant, (born September 29, 1988, Washington, D.C., U.S.), American professional basketball player who won the 2013–14 National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and established himself as one of the best players of his generation while only in his early 20s.
Durant was a basketball prodigy as a youth, becoming one of the best prospects in the thriving Washington, D.C.-area basketball scene by his early years in high school and an All-American in his senior season. He attended the University of Texas, where as a freshman he led the Big 12 Conference in scoring average (25.8 points per game), rebounding average (11.1 rebounds per game), and blocked shots (67). He was also a first-team All-American and the first freshman to earn consensus national College Player of the Year honours. He elected to end his college career after just one season and was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the second overall pick of the 2007 NBA draft.


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