How NASA’s shuttle programme paved the way for a new era in space

 A decade after its retirement, NASA’s iconic space shuttle programme is succeeded by burgeoning commercial space crew initiatives that have built on its legacyThe Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida in the United States for the last time on July 8, 2011, but NASA's shuttle programme's legacy lives on [File: John Raoux/AP Photo]

Ten years ago today, the Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down for the final time, signalling the end of an era for United States space agency NASA. The iconic orbiter that was synonymous with space travel had finally retired.

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Without another means of sending American astronauts into space, NASA turned to Russia to safely deliver its astronauts to the International Space Station and back. That partnership flourished for nearly a decade until NASA came up with a new plan: hire commercial companies to build spaceships capable of transporting its astronauts.

In this new era of space travel, NASA would no longer build the vehicles, but would instead book rides on private spacecraft.

To that end, in 2014, the US space agency selected two different companies to construct its future space taxis — Elon Musk’s SpaceX and aeroplane maker Boeing. Both have built on the shuttle programme’s legacy.

Ten years after its final fight, here’s a look back at how the shuttle helped shape our ideas about humans in space from some of the astronauts it carried.

NASA’s workhorse

NASA debuted its space shuttle following the glory days of the Apollo era. A magnificent machine, the winged craft — which launched like a rocket and landed like a plane — was capable of flying multiple times.

In total, NASA sent five of these flying machines into space: Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavor (a sixth shuttle, the Enterprise, ran flight tests but never made it beyond Earth’s atmosphere). The “fab five” fleet of orbiters flew for three decades, changing the way we access space.

During that time, the International Space Station was built, astronauts became more than just military pilots, and many important satellites were launched, including the iconic Hubble Space Telescope.

The crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, from left, mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus, pilot Doug Hurley and commander Chris Ferguson, on their way to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the United States for the final space shuttle launch on July 8, 2011 [File: Terry Renna/AP Photo]

“The shuttle was truly one of the most unique vehicles ever built,” Chris Ferguson, a former NASA astronaut who was the commander of the final shuttle mission, told Al Jazeera.

“Having an opportunity to stand next to a space shuttle is very special,” Ferguson, now a Boeing astronaut, added. “It’s pivotal for the country and for the world to be able to see the things we can do when we put our minds to it.”