NASA built the space shuttle Discovery in the early 1980s. SPACE.com takes a look back to when the orbiter was built. The shuttle is slated to retire after 26 years of spaceflight.

Unlike the Space Shuttle, the exterior of Rockwell’s orbiter wasn’t defined by thousands of unique silica ceramic tiles to defend it against the heat of re-entry. Instead, it would be made of ...

The adhesive-bonding method used to secure heat-resistant ceramic tiles to the body of the Space Shuttle Columbia is known for its inability to withstand high temperatures, and should not be used ...

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 ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Thisstory is Chapter 6 in an 11-part series by Florida Today. Michael Brieden bore badnews ...

Unlike the Space Shuttle, the exterior of Rockwell’s orbiter wasn’t defined by thousands of unique silica ceramic tiles to defend it against the heat of re-entry. Instead, it would be made of ...

At 18 times the speed of sound, the line between life and death aboard the space shuttle is about 2 inches thick. It is the measure of most of its ceramic heat-shield tiles. NASA investigators are ...

Approximately 27,000 ceramic tiles cover the exterior of the NASA Space Shuttle—a reusable spacecraft that ... Hybrid bearings sit between full ceramic and steel options. While they use ...

Space Shuttle Main Engines. In 1995, ... asbestos brakes were swapped out in favor of ceramic ones. Starting with return-to-flight mission STS-114 (July 2005), ...

At 10:39 Eastern Standard Time on January 16, 2003, space shuttle Columbia lifted off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ... leaving a large hole in the brittle ceramic material.

The first notable use of carbon ceramic materials was for the very expensive tiles on the underside of the Space Shuttle, where they were used to resist the high temperatures produced by the ...