O-ring erosion on Discovery would have disastrous effects a year later It has been 40 years since NASA launched the first dedicated Department of Defense Space Shuttle mission, after which engineers ...

One of the main elements of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS ... but those don’t make a rocket stage any more than the Shuttle External Tank did by itself. (Photo Caption: Major join 2 of ...

Time-lapse of Space Shuttle Endeavour stacked with an external tank and pair of solid rocket boosters for a exhibit at the California Science Center. Credit: California Science Center | time-lapse by ...

For millions, it was an event that would be seared into their memories for the rest of their lives – on par with the Kennedy assassination and 9/11.

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the Space Shuttle ... from the external rocket tank during launch, which opened a hole in a shuttle wing ...