At a time when money is too tight for NASA’s science exploration endeavors, Texas senators are willing to pour millions into ...

I would much rather see that money invested in NASA’s science program,” said Garrett Reisman, who flew on Discovery as a ...

With roughly 24,300 tiles and 2,300 flexible insulation blankets used in the TPS design, it is no surprise that after each shuttle flight, there was a large downtime to assess, repair, or replace ...

The space shuttle's thermal protection system, made up of thousands of tiles, was almost a program in and of itself. Depending on location on the orbiter, their materials were customized to handle ...

Sometimes, though, the gaps are too wide and are plugged with fillers. Until recently, damaged tiles could be repaired only after the shuttle returned to Earth. That is about to change.

Space shuttle Enterprise after Hurricane Sandy passed – the inflated display pavilion has collapsed, and a piece of the Enterprise's tail is missing (Photo: Denise Chow) View 3 Images 1 / 3 ...

Space Shuttle Endeavour has been in space for about a week now and the crew has just recently found that there is a damaged tile on the shuttle’s heat shield, bringing back horrible images of ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 21 (UPI) -- NASA says it will know by Sunday if a damaged heat shield tile on the shuttle Endeavour needs to be repaired before the shuttle heads back to Earth.

WASHINGTON — National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to take a closer look Saturday at a damaged heat shield tile on the underbelly of the space shuttle Endeavour, but mission ...

Astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour will take another look at their spacecraft's heat shield this weekend to inspect a damaged tile on the orbiter's vital heat shield, NASA managers said ...

Associated PressThis undated image made available by NASA on Friday, May 20, 2011 shows a damaged thermal tile on the space shuttle Endeavour's underbelly. The crew is planning to use a laser ...

HOUSTON — NASA ordered Endeavour”s crew to take an unusual close-up look at a damaged tile in the space shuttle”s delicate heat shield early today. Using the shuttle”s robotic arm ...