First, they allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle handled during low-speed flight and landing, providing realistic, in-flight simulations of how subsequent Space Shuttles ...

Bob Crippen, who flew the first space shuttle mission in 1981, says it will be a long time before we see another spacecraft as 'magnificent' as the shuttle. Video via NASA. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

It won’t have any crew, but the U.S. Space Force hitched a ride on SpaceX to send the Boeing-built X-37B spacecraft — which ...

For the first time ever, a space shuttle landed at Cape Canaveral AFS. Perched on top of a modified NASA 747, the Shuttle Orbiter Columbia made a historic landing here March 5.

Although NASA began early studies of space shuttle designs even before the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, the shuttle program wasn't formally launched until January 5,1972, when President Nixon ...

A secret space plane from the U.S. Space Force is set to fly on its eighth mission − one aimed at demonstrating critical space technology for deep space exploration. Just under six months ...

NASA's space shuttle Discovery swoops down to a smooth landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center on June 14, 2008 to conclude the STS-124 mission.(Image credit: NASA ...

As of today, NASA said, the space shuttle Discovery has gone 5,830 times around the earth, flown 148 milion miles and spent 365 days in space since its first launch in 1984. No other ship has gone ...

Columbia’s first landing on April 14, 1981, drew 225,000 fans to Edwards Air Force Base. The crowd size overwhelmed the base police and facilities. For the next landing, Edwards was ready. In a ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the lunar surface during the first moon landing ...

The Space Transportation System (STS)-3 Columbia landed on the Northrup Strip to conclude NASA's third space shuttle mission which was crewed by NASA astronauts, Jack Lousma and Gordon Fullerton.