The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. They were used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST); conducted science experiments in orbit; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds.

Shuttle components included the Orbiter Vehicle (OV), a pair of recoverable solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and the expendable external tank (ET) containing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The Shuttle was launched vertically, like a conventional rocket, with the two SRBs operating in parallel with the OV's three main engines, which were fueled from the ET. The SRBs were jettisoned before the vehicle reached orbit, and the ET was jettisoned just before orbit insertion, which used the orbiter's two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines. At the conclusion of the mission, the orbiter fired its OMS to de-orbit and re-enter the atmosphere. The orbiter then glided as a spaceplane to a runway landing, usually at the Shuttle Landing Facility of KSC or Rogers Dry Lake in Edwards Air Force Base, California. After landing at Edwards, the orbiter was flown back to the KSC on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a specially modified Boeing 747.

430 Space Shuttle (Chinese: 430穿梭機) is a children's show shown on TVB Jade in Hong Kong that aired from 1 February, 1982 until its final episode on 8 August, 1989. The name represents the show's starting time—4:30pm. This program aimed to educate children about astronomy or related topics with stories, songs, games and other adventures. It provided an opportunity for children to learn about different topics while being entertained at the same time.

The host of the programme was Cheung Kwok Keung aka "KK", with various supporting actress, as well as the "silver" monster "CoCo" and the robot hung on it called "LoBo". When the programme was broadcasting, many of the family in Hong Kong was still watching a Black-and-White TV and thought "CoCo" was a gold monster. Some children got disappointed when they saw the "ugly" silver body in Colour TV.

430 Space Shuttle was replaced in the early 1990s by Flash Fax, another educational children's show.

Among the show's former hosts are famous Hong Kong actors Stephen Chow and Tony Leung.

Space Shuttle (full title: Space Shuttle: Pinball Adventure) is a Space Shuttle themed pinball machine made in 1984 by WMS Industries. The machine's marketing slogan is "The fastest way to make your earnings really take off!".

Gameplay

In Space Shuttle the main goal is to acquire the shuttle score value from spelling out "S H U T T L E" by hitting six stand up targets and one drop target - or by using the lit inlanes (if available).

The reward for the shuttle score value is assigned randomly with each new ball, or by hitting a stand up target, at the top of a short ramp. It will be one of the following:

Additionally three lights labeled U, S and A are lit when a ball rolls over them. They are worth 2,000 points each. Spelling USA increases the end of ball bonus multiplier (a multiplication factor for points earned and awarded when the ball in play drains). There are three pop bumpers that are worth 100 points when unlit and 1,000 points when lit. Two or three ball multiball is started by hitting one ball up a ball lock or two balls up two different ball locks and then shooting a ball up the center ramp when the drop target is down.