Forty years ago, the NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members. Among the seven crew members were five NASA astronauts, as well as a payload ...

Space Shuttle Columbia disaster didn’t begin during re-entry. It began 16 days earlier, with something NASA believed was harmless. In 2003, Columbia launched on what appeared to be a routine mission.

Before the NASA Space Shuttle ever reached orbit, engineers faced a dangerous problem few people fully appreciated: returning safely through Earth’s atmosphere at extreme speed. Early studies revealed ...