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Description
January 27, 1986: A review of the Space Shuttle Challenger on the eve of STS-51-L reveals a damaged O-Ring in the right Solid Rocket Booster (SRB); the mission is scrubbed and rescheduled for the spring.

April 19, 1986: STS-51-L launches with school teacher Christa McAuliffe with a great deal of fanfare. Public interest in the space program is the highest in the decade. NASA quietly reviews the SRB system and submits a request to Congress to fund the construction of next generation Liquid Rocket Boosters. President Reagan calls for "Opening Space" to more American civilians and private researchers. NASA's budget increase passes Congress, but comes with a provision to begin training more civilians to fly in space.

September 30, 1986: STS-61-D leaves the Space Shuttle Discovery's main engines "open" during the last leg of the flight, lofting the Space Shuttle External Fuel Tank into orbit. While technically a boilerplate test, the flight lays the groundwork for a new generation of Space Shuttle Wet Workshops .

March 13, 1988: SCS-1x carries out the first test flight of the Space Shuttle C for a classified DoD mission. NASA signs the final ten-year contracts for developing Space Station in September, with the first segments already under construction for the Wet Workshop program.

January 4, 1989: STS-91-A launches the first segment of Space Station Freedom. Astronauts conduct seven spacewalks over three days converting the Space Shuttle Challenger's ET for habitation and laboratory duties. After completing their final spacewalk, Space Station Freedom's first module becomes the largest habitable volume ever placed into space. Astronauts remain on station for 18 days conducting shakedown tests, zero-G experiments, and a video call from President Reagan.

December 12, 1992: STS-81 First Flight of OV-106 Constitution and the first flight of the Space Shuttle Liquid Rocket Boosters . The mission provides the final segment for the third ring of Space Station Freedom. The flight also marks Flight 14 of 1992, the fist year to meet NASA's original projected number of flights for the shuttle fleet. Space Station Freedom now hosts a permanent staff of 50 scientists and engineers year round, thanks in part to a series of greenhouses that provide food, air, and black water filtration without resupply from Earth.

February 19, 1993: President Clinton announces the Ares Program, calling for a manned Mission to Mars by the Year 2000. Congress approves the funding for NASA only after attaching a provision allowing for private companies to lease space stations from NASA and seats on Shuttle Flights. The "Gross Space Product" now exceeds $200 Billion from a boom in space-based manufacturing from private companies on three space stations the government already offers to lease.

August 1, 1994: STS-104 ends in the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and its entire crew. An investigation would find that a tile that had fallen off at the leading edge of the space shuttle's wing caused an uncontrolled build up of heat that cut the left wing in half, leading to the destruction of the Shuttle on re-entry. NASA conducts a comprehensive review of the Space Transportation System, and while the conclusion of the report largely confirms longstanding suspicions that Columbia should have been retired years ago, Congress calls for new safety measures with the next series of orbiters. Manned orbiters are grounded during the investigation while the the crews of Space Station Freedom and the three leased stations are left to remain in orbit with resupply from the Shuttle-C fleet.

April 4, 1995: The first Heavy Lifter Shuttle-C provides the Ares-I with its propulsion stage. Crews from Space Station Freedom continue to service the few components of the Ares spacecraft that were launched before the loss of Columbia.

December 7, 1995: The Ares-I is launched for the Moon for a final year-long shakedown tests. Jim Wetherbee becomes the first human to walk on the Moon in 23 years. The mission makes another piece of history with Eileen Collins becoming the first woman to fly to the Moon.

February 24, 1996: Space Shuttle Atlantis is the first of the fleet to return to flight on STS-105-R. During the investigation, NASA retired the orbiters Discovery and Challenger, and only allowed Atlantis to complete 5 more flights before its own retirement. After sufficient prodding by President Clinton and fears of economic ruin in key congressional districts that manufacture and service the components of the Space Shuttle Fleet, Congress approved the construction of thee replacement Shuttles and the construction of the first of a series of Block II Space Shuttles .

March 19, 1996: STS-106-R tests the Crew Transport Module inside the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Constitution. The CRM can hold 20 additional astronauts during launch and landing, allowing many of the beleaguered astronauts aboard Space Station Freedom and the leased stations to return home. The private crew from Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc. on Space Station Tuskegee return to Earth with a new generation of plant growth stimulants that can only be produced in space.

July 3, 1998: Story Musgrave becomes the first man on Mars, fulfilling President Clinton's vision for a human mission to Mars before the end of the century. The 22 scientists and engineers make a series of incredible discoveries once there, from confirming the presence of water on Mars, to fossilized evidence of single celled organisms, and somewhat by accident, confirming that humans can indeed be born on Mars with no physical damage. Lucus Freeman is announced to the world as the First Martian.

October 21, 2001: President McCain reveals the existence of Project Thor and Space Station Yeager after ordering an orbital strike on terrorist targets in Afghanistan. The Air Force is given approval to procure their own Block II shuttle fleet.

March 1, 2002: Space Shuttle Adventure makes its first flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The first Block II shuttle is capable of 300 flights, and is the first shuttle to use new Flyback LRBs. The second Block II shuttle, the AFOV-01 "Hap" Arnold, will enter service in the next month after being transferred from NASA to the US Air Force. Plans are underway to create a more cost-effective booster for the Shuttle that is fully reusable, but cannot be re-purposed as a wet workshop. This will radically cut launch costs for non-station-building operations.

A credit for bagera3005
for the permission using the Space Shuttle Columbia OV-102 [link]

Description
January 27, 1986: A review of the Space Shuttle Challenger on the eve of STS-51-L reveals a damaged O-Ring in the right Solid Rocket Booster (SRB); the mission is scrubbed and rescheduled for the spring.

April 19, 1986: STS-51-L launches with school teacher Christa McAuliffe with a great deal of fanfare. Public interest in the space program is the highest in the decade. NASA quietly reviews the SRB system and submits a request to Congress to fund the construction of next generation Liquid Rocket Boosters. President Reagan calls for "Opening Space" to more American civilians and private researchers. NASA's budget increase passes Congress, but comes with a provision to begin training more civilians to fly in space.

September 30, 1986: STS-61-D leaves the Space Shuttle Discovery's main engines "open" during the last leg of the flight, lofting the Space Shuttle External Fuel Tank into orbit. While technically a boilerplate test, the flight lays the groundwork for a new generation of Space Shuttle Wet Workshops .

March 13, 1988: SCS-1x carries out the first test flight of the Space Shuttle C for a classified DoD mission. NASA signs the final ten-year contracts for developing Space Station in September, with the first segments already under construction for the Wet Workshop program.

January 4, 1989: STS-91-A launches the first segment of Space Station Freedom. Astronauts conduct seven spacewalks over three days converting the Space Shuttle Challenger's ET for habitation and laboratory duties. After completing their final spacewalk, Space Station Freedom's first module becomes the largest habitable volume ever placed into space. Astronauts remain on station for 18 days conducting shakedown tests, zero-G experiments, and a video call from President Reagan.

December 12, 1992: STS-81 First Flight of OV-106 Constitution and the first flight of the Space Shuttle Liquid Rocket Boosters . The mission provides the final segment for the third ring of Space Station Freedom. The flight also marks Flight 14 of 1992, the fist year to meet NASA's original projected number of flights for the shuttle fleet. Space Station Freedom now hosts a permanent staff of 50 scientists and engineers year round, thanks in part to a series of greenhouses that provide food, air, and black water filtration without resupply from Earth.

February 19, 1993: President Clinton announces the Ares Program, calling for a manned Mission to Mars by the Year 2000. Congress approves the funding for NASA only after attaching a provision allowing for private companies to lease space stations from NASA and seats on Shuttle Flights. The "Gross Space Product" now exceeds $200 Billion from a boom in space-based manufacturing from private companies on three space stations the government already offers to lease.

August 1, 1994: STS-104 ends in the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and its entire crew. An investigation would find that a tile that had fallen off at the leading edge of the space shuttle's wing caused an uncontrolled build up of heat that cut the left wing in half, leading to the destruction of the Shuttle on re-entry. NASA conducts a comprehensive review of the Space Transportation System, and while the conclusion of the report largely confirms longstanding suspicions that Columbia should have been retired years ago, Congress calls for new safety measures with the next series of orbiters. Manned orbiters are grounded during the investigation while the the crews of Space Station Freedom and the three leased stations are left to remain in orbit with resupply from the Shuttle-C fleet.

April 4, 1995: The first Heavy Lifter Shuttle-C provides the Ares-I with its propulsion stage. Crews from Space Station Freedom continue to service the few components of the Ares spacecraft that were launched before the loss of Columbia.

December 7, 1995: The Ares-I is launched for the Moon for a final year-long shakedown tests. Jim Wetherbee becomes the first human to walk on the Moon in 23 years. The mission makes another piece of history with Eileen Collins becoming the first woman to fly to the Moon.

February 24, 1996: Space Shuttle Atlantis is the first of the fleet to return to flight on STS-105-R. During the investigation, NASA retired the orbiters Discovery and Challenger, and only allowed Atlantis to complete 5 more flights before its own retirement. After sufficient prodding by President Clinton and fears of economic ruin in key congressional districts that manufacture and service the components of the Space Shuttle Fleet, Congress approved the construction of thee replacement Shuttles and the construction of the first of a series of Block II Space Shuttles .

March 19, 1996: STS-106-R tests the Crew Transport Module inside the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Constitution. The CRM can hold 20 additional astronauts during launch and landing, allowing many of the beleaguered astronauts aboard Space Station Freedom and the leased stations to return home. The private crew from Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc. on Space Station Tuskegee return to Earth with a new generation of plant growth stimulants that can only be produced in space.

July 3, 1998: Story Musgrave becomes the first man on Mars, fulfilling President Clinton's vision for a human mission to Mars before the end of the century. The 22 scientists and engineers make a series of incredible discoveries once there, from confirming the presence of water on Mars, to fossilized evidence of single celled organisms, and somewhat by accident, confirming that humans can indeed be born on Mars with no physical damage. Lucus Freeman is announced to the world as the First Martian.

October 21, 2001: President McCain reveals the existence of Project Thor and Space Station Yeager after ordering an orbital strike on terrorist targets in Afghanistan. The Air Force is given approval to procure their own Block II shuttle fleet.

March 1, 2002: Space Shuttle Adventure makes its first flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The first Block II shuttle is capable of 300 flights, and is the first shuttle to use new Flyback LRBs. The second Block II shuttle, the AFOV-01 "Hap" Arnold, will enter service in the next month after being transferred from NASA to the US Air Force. Plans are underway to create a more cost-effective booster for the Shuttle that is fully reusable, but cannot be re-purposed as a wet workshop. This will radically cut launch costs for non-station-building operations.

A credit for bagera3005
for the permission using the Space Shuttle Columbia OV-102 [link]