space shuttle at takeoff![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
On takeoff, the space shuttle is made up of an orbiter, two rockets and an external fuel tank.
orbiter ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
The only part of the shuttle to fly in orbit; transports 13 tons of material and five to seven astronauts.
nozzle ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
The end portion of a rocket from which combustion gases escape, thereby creating the thrust needed to propel the craft.
solid rocket booster ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Solid-fuel thruster that provides most of the lift during the first few minutes of flight, after which it separates.
booster parachute ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Slows the rocket’s fall after it separates from the space shuttle some two minutes after takeoff.
external fuel tank ![click to hear](/images/speaker.jpg)
Contains the liquid fuel (oxygen and hydrogen) that supplies the three engines of the orbiter tail.