how much time does the space shuttle take to reach the space station and vice versa?

Answer 1

The shuttle usually does not dock with the space station until a day after launch. It could get there much faster, if they wanted to, less than an hour if they rushed, but they just don't want to rush. And they usually do not return to Earth until at least a day after leaving the space station. Again, they are just taking their time, it could be done in less than an hour if they wanted. I attended a talk by a shuttle astronaut and he said there was some disagreement even withing NASA about whether all that time is really needed, but there are a lot of house keeping type chores they do between launch and docking, and between undocking and reentry, like unpacking and packing different equipment needed for different phases of flight, so it is nice not to have to rush those chores.