It's unclear by how much, but for some idea, NASA hoped that its X-33 space plane would reduce the cost of sending a pound of payload into orbit from $10,000 to $1,000. Radian One wouldn't be a ...

Plans were well underway to launch the Space Shuttle at Vandenberg in the early 1980s. The shuttle was what a rocket could never be: A flying aircraft with a human pilot. The insulting phrase for ...

In the 1990s, NASA designed an experimental space plane meant to be a cost-effective alternative to expensive rockets. Called the X-33, it was based on a concept called SSTO — or “single stage ...

The X-38—had it gone operational—would not have been the first reusable spacecraft. But it helped lay the groundwork for future space programs’ emphasis on reusability.

The space shuttle that never came home. ... May 2, 2024 More than 1 year ago. 33 min. The space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Pad 39B Jan. 28, 1986 at 11:38 a.m. (EST) ...

Astronaut, X-15 test pilot and space shuttle pilot Joe Engle has died at home in Houston, Texas. He was 91. Engle passed peacefully surrounded by his family according to a NASA press release.

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 ...

Joe Engle, who had the distinction of being the only astronaut to pilot an X-15 aircraft and a space shuttle, died in Houston on Wednesday, July 10. He was 91.