Tag: space-shuttle-2
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A century after the first rocket launch, Ars staffers pick their favorites
Robert Goddard, a Massachusetts-born physicist, launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket on this date 100 years ago. It was not an overly impressive flight. The rocket, fueled by gasoline and liquid oxygen, rose just 41 feet into the air, and the flight lasted 2.5 seconds before it struck ice and snow. Nevertheless, this rocket, named…
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Houston, you’ve got a space shuttle… only NASA won’t say which one
The head of NASA has decided to move one of the agency’s retired space shuttles to Houston, but which one seems to still be up in the air. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), who earlier this year introduced and championed an effort to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Space Center Houston, issued…
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Texas politicians make headway in effort to wrench space shuttle from Smithsonian
A political effort to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Space Center Houston has been merged with the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a major economic and policy package now nearing a vote in the US Senate. The “Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act,” first introduced by Texas Senators Ted Cruz and…
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A Cold War mystery: Why did Jimmy Carter save the space shuttle?
With 39th President Jimmy Carter passing away at the age of 100, we are revisiting this story of how he unexpectedly saved the space shuttle. We’d been chatting for the better part of two hours when Chris Kraft’s eyes suddenly brightened. “Hey,” he said, “Here’s a story I’ll bet you never heard.” Kraft, the man…
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SpaceX got the fanfare, but Boeing’s first crew flight is still historic
If you want to know what it’s like to take a new spacecraft on its first test run in orbit, there are only three people in the Western world you can call. That fact should drive home the rarity of debuting a new human-rated spaceship. When Boeing’s Starliner capsule lifts off Monday night, this group…
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Rocket Report: SpaceX at the service of a rival; Endeavour goes vertical
Welcome to Edition 6.29 of the Rocket Report! Right now, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is the only US launch vehicle offering crew or cargo service to the International Space Station. The previous version of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket retired last year, forcing that company to sign a contract with SpaceX to launch its Cygnus supply…
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What happens when an astronaut in orbit says he’s not coming back?
Taylor Wang was deeply despondent. A day earlier, he had quite literally felt on top of the world by becoming the first Chinese-born person to fly into space. But now, orbiting Earth on board the Space Shuttle, all of his hopes and dreams, everything he had worked on for the better part of a decade…