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Shuttle Endeavour To Begin Voyage To New Home
September 18, 2012 Piggybacking on a modified jumbo jet, the retired space shuttle will make its way from Florida to a permanent display site at the California Science Center. After this week's final flight, the 170,000-pound shuttle still has to navigate the streets of Los Angeles, which is no easy task.
Aboard 747, Space Shuttle Discovery To Make Final Flight
April 16, 2012 The first of NASA's retired space shuttles will make its way to its new retirement home on April 17. The well-traveled orbiter will be flown low over the nation's capital before being placed on permanent display at the Smithsonian.
The Two-Way
Space Shuttle Lands, Ending 30-Year Era
July 21, 2011 The last NASA space shuttle mission into space has ended. Atlantis and its four crew members arrived at the Kennedy Space Center just before 6 a.m. ET.
Planet Money
Spaceflight Is Getting Cheaper, But Not Enough
July 21, 2011 Elon Musk wants us to live in other planets. First he has to make space flight affordable. So he took the fortune he made in Internet start-ups and started his own rocket company.
Shuttle Memorabilia: Completing The Collection
July 21, 2011 As the shuttle program ends, there's a growing interest in shuttle-related historical items and collectibles.
Sizing Up Space: A Visual History
July 21, 2011 In the three decades of the shuttle program, hundreds of astronauts flew aboard the five spaceships.
So You Want To Be An Astronaut
July 20, 2011 A request on NPR's Facebook page asking people to share their dreams of being an astronaut brought more than 1,000 responses.
Questions Hang Over NASA's Post-Shuttle Future
July 20, 2011 When NASA wrapped up its spaceship programs Mercury and Apollo, it had new vehicles ready to replace them. But the agency has no such plan now that the space shuttles are retiring. Some people say it's a sign the organization has lost its way, but the agency's leaders say NASA has a robust future.
Ready For Retirement, Shuttles Get A Deep Clean
July 19, 2011 At the facility where the retired space shuttles are being dismantled and prepared for museum displays, some technicians say even though much of the work is routine, it feels different knowing the spaceships are now permanently Earthbound.
NASA: Space Station's Best Days Are Still Ahead
July 18, 2011 After more than a decade, major construction of International Space Station is complete. Scientists are now hoping that the next decade will be a golden age of research aboard the orbiting outpost. But with no American shuttle to transport astronauts and experiments, even simple logistics will be a major challenge.
Crafting Shuttles: Labor Of Love, Vanishing Art
July 18, 2011 Much of a space shuttle, from thermal tiles to the electrical system, is made by hand and crafted by skilled workers. Five years ago, NPR visited a shuttle workshop. Now, as the program concludes and shuttle construction and refurbishment winds down, we return to see what's next for the people who handmade the spaceships.
The Handmade Space Shuttle
July 18, 2011 Many parts of the space shuttles were built and crafted by the hands of skilled workers. See photos from the shuttles' construction and hear from some of the people who built the space ships.
No Stranger To Spaceships, N.M. Builds A Spaceport
July 17, 2011 There's a lot of money to be made in shuttling back and forth to the space station, and several companies are competing in a new race to space. Whatever the new space vehicle is, it'll need a place to park — and New Mexico hopes it has the answer.
Post-Shuttle, NASA To Keep Students Looking Up
July 16, 2011 A child born today will never see an American space shuttle blast off from the Kennedy Space Center. That worries some educators, who see human space flight as a great recruiter for future scientists and engineers. Don't worry, NASA says, its education mission is far from over.
A New Frontier In Space Travel: The Law
July 15, 2011 Several private companies are developing spacecraft that will take anyone into space who wants to go, provided they can pay for the ride. But the challenges of commercial human spaceflight are as much about laws and regulations as they are about technology.
