Members of the cast and the creator of Star Trek attend the rollout of the space shuttle prototype Enterprise, Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, 1976. From left, NASA administrator James Fletcher, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Leonard Nimoy, Gene Roddenberry, NASA deputy administrator Geoge Low, and Water Koenig.

Tilt-shift photo of the space shuttle Endeavour by NASA

I thought this was a string being pulled out of a carpet.

The only manned space shuttles ever build: NASA’s Space Transportation System (STS), and Soviet Union’s Buran (Snowstorm/Blizzard). 

The main difference between both craft is that Buran doesn’t have rocket boosters of her own, and instead completely relies on the “Energia” non-reusable rocket for propulsion.