for the target orbit to return. The other component of the launch window calculation is the phase window, the period during which launching the shuttle will place it in line behind the ISS and on ...

A former NASA scientist explains how we know whether Blue Origin New Shepard made it to space, and how its altitude compares ...

The shuttle’s skin contracts slightly while in orbit, then expands during reentry ... either from stored patterns or from measurements of the actual space on the orbiter. In thickness, most ...

Reaching Earth’s orbit is a complex, high-stakes engineering challenge, and the Space Shuttle was one of the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to do it. This video explores the nine-minute ...

The orbiters remain the only winged spacecraft to have made multiple flights into orbit. Over 30 years, 135 flights were made by five shuttles: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis ...