Space Shuttle Launch Configuration - Diagram & Explanation #3042359 (License: Personal Use)

This illustration depicts the Space Shuttle in its full launch configuration: the white orbiter centered, attached to a large orange external fuel tank (shown here in gray for monochrome clarity), and flanked by two white solid rocket boosters. Key structural elements like the nose cap, payload bay doors, and main engines are visible, emphasizing the vehicle’s symmetry and engineering design. The image highlights the modular assembly critical to the Shuttle’s operation from 1981 to 2011.

Used on educational or aerospace history web pages to explain shuttle architecture; ideal for STEM content, museum exhibits, or NASA retrospective articles where users seek visual understanding of launch systems.