Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space

aka: Space Shuttle
Moby ID: 11991
Atari 2600 Specs
Buy on Atari 2600
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Description official descriptions

Space Shuttle is a simulation game where you are the pilot of space shuttle Discovery. Your goal is to launch the Discovery, establish an orbit around the Earth, open the cargo bay doors and recover a satellite to perform repairs, and finally land the Discovery successfully, all while using as little fuel as possible. Each time the complete mission is accomplished, it will then repeat at a higher difficulty level (in the higher difficulty levels the satellite has a more erratic flight path). The game is played from a first-person perspective in the space shuttle cockpit where you can control everything from the shuttle's engines to cargo bay doors. When the game is over you will be given a ranking which is based on the number of successful dockings and the amount of fuel that was used. In addition to the full flight mode, two easier game variations (autosimulator and simulator mode) are included. The autosimulator mode is the easiest; the computer will control the flight (you can take over at any point you wish) and the controls are simplified. The simulation mode is closer to the full game, however, you have an unlimited amount of fuel so there is no time pressure, and the computer will help compensate for inaccurate maneuvering.

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Average score: 79% (based on 7 ratings)

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Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 36 ratings with 0 reviews)

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Trivia

Emergency Landing

During the development of the simulator, one of Activision's testers landed the Shuttle using just the smaller engines, which are normally only used for minor adjustments.

Steve Kitchen was puzzled that the simulated shuttle would allow that to happen, so he went back to NASA and asked them to try the same thing on their own simulators. They concurred that it was indeed possible, and so landing the shuttle in an emergency using the smaller engines was added to the actual Space Shuttle’s emergency procedures manual! (From the Bird Sanctuary)

Activision patches

Player who completed 5 docking mission with 4500 units of fuel left could send in a photo of their TV screens and get a Space Shuttle Pilot patch. Players who completed 6 docking missions with 7500 units of fuel left could get a Space Shuttle Commander patch.

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  • MobyGames ID: 11991
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Servo.

Amstrad CPC added by Kabushi. ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Atari 8-bit added by Terok Nor. MSX added by koffiepad.

Additional contributors: Martin Smith, LepricahnsGold, S Olafsson, ZeTomes.

Game added February 4, 2004. Last modified February 12, 2024.