Out Of This World: Designs Of The Space Age
From kitchenware to office parks, the Space Age left a sleekly modern mark on the country's landscape and imagination. As the space shuttle soars through the firmament for the very last time, we...
View ArticleIn Russia, Space Ride For U.S. Spurs Nostalgia, Hope
With the conclusion of NASA's space shuttle program, American astronauts will rely solely on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to reach orbit. Many Russians see this as an opportunity to create a smooth,...
View ArticleThe Space Shuttle Is Dead, Long Live The Space Shuttle!
The space shuttle may be gone, but it's not likely to be forgotten — not if Hollywood has anything to do with it. Over the course of the last 30 years, the shuttle has shown up repeatedly on the Silver...
View ArticleA New Frontier In Space Travel: The Law
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...
View ArticlePost-Shuttle, NASA To Keep Students Looking Up
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...
View ArticleNo Stranger To Spaceships, N.M. Builds A Spaceport
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...
View ArticleCrafting Shuttles: Labor Of Love, Vanishing Art
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...
View ArticleNASA: Space Station's Best Days Are Still Ahead
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...
View ArticleReady For Retirement, Shuttles Get A Deep Clean
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...
View ArticleQuestions Hang Over NASA's Post-Shuttle Future
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...
View ArticleSo You Want To Be An Astronaut
A request on NPR's Facebook page asking people to share their dreams of being an astronaut brought more than 1,000 responses.
View ArticleSpaceflight Is Getting Cheaper. But It's Still Not Cheap Enough.
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.
View ArticleShuttle Memorabilia: Completing The Collection
As the shuttle program ends, there's a growing interest in shuttle-related historical items and collectibles.
View ArticleShuttle Discovery To Make Final Flight, Atop A 747
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...
View ArticleShuttle Endeavour To Begin Voyage To New Home
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...
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