A spacecraft is a metaphor of national inspiration: majestic, technologically advanced, produced at dear cost and entrusted with precious cargo, rising above the constraints of the earth. The ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Peter Suciu covers trends in the world of aerospace and defense. The Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) would need to be cut into ...

The year was 1977 and then-President Jimmy Carter had a problem with NASA. In a diary entry from that June, Carter, who died Sunday at age 100, made clear his displeasure with the agency, which was in ...

Upon its inception, NASA’s space shuttle program promised to usher in a new era of exploration, keeping astronauts space-bound with a reusable and relatively cheap ride into orbit. It was a project ...

The STS-51L mission clears the tower at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 28, 1986. Credit: NASA / Courtesy Sign up for the Concord Monitor’s morning newsletter for ...

Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both Republicans of Texas, want the space shuttle Discovery to be moved to Space Center Houston from its current location at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near ...

A NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter re-enters the Earth's atmosphere at about 75 miles above sea level and speeds close to 17,500 mph. When slowing down to its landing speed of about 215 mph, the orbiter's ...

Should the city of Houston, which proudly bills itself as “Space City,” have a prized Space Shuttle orbiter on public display? More than a decade ago, arguably, the answer was yes. After all, the ...

Even in retirement, the space shuttle Discovery exudes power, seen across a hangar crowded with planes and jets at its museum home in Chantilly, Va. Charred and worn from its record 39 missions to ...

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. It occurred Feb. 1, 2003. For millions of Americans, it was an event that ...