space shuttle
any of several U.S. space vehicles consisting of a reusable manned orbiter that touches down on a landing strip after an orbital mission, two reusable solid rocket boosters that drop off after initial ascent, and an expendable external tank containing liquid propellants.
Origin of space shuttle
1Words Nearby space shuttle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use space shuttle in a sentence
If that’s the perception, the inevitable accidents will be as traumatic as those of the space shuttle were.
If Aliens Exist, Here’s How We’ll Find Them - Issue 97: Wonder | Martin Rees & Mario Livio | February 24, 2021 | NautilusAt the beginning of the space shuttle program, it envisioned offering seats to private citizens and started a “Spaceflight Participant” program.
Meet the people paying $55 million each to fly to the space station | Christian Davenport | January 26, 2021 | Washington PostThe rocket would be the most powerful ever, with four RS-25 engines used by the space shuttle and two side solid rocket motor boosters taller than the Statue of Liberty.
2021 could be a huge year for space. Here’s what’s to come from NASA, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. | Christian Davenport | December 30, 2020 | Washington PostThat’s four times the capacity of the Falcon 9, three times the capacity of the space shuttle, and approaching twice the capacity of the Falcon Heavy—currently the world’s most powerful launch system.
SpaceX’s Starship flies, belly flops, and bursts into flames | Charlie Wood | December 10, 2020 | Popular-ScienceUp in space, the crew members on board space shuttle Atlantis were sleeping.
How a Thanksgiving Day gag ruffled feathers in Mission Control | Eric Berger | November 23, 2020 | Ars Technica
Similar to the space shuttle in appearance, the diminutive X-37B is about a quarter the size of the old shuttles.
Will The Pentagon’s Secret Space Plane Ever Return to Earth? | Kyle Mizokami | April 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for space shuttle
any of a series of reusable US space vehicles (Columbia (exploded 2003), Challenger (exploded 1986), Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour) that can be launched into earth orbit transporting astronauts and equipment for a period of observation, research, etc, before re-entry and an unpowered landing on a runway; the first operational flight occurred in 1981 and it was taken out of service in 2011
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for space shuttle
A vehicle built by NASA that is capable of taking off from Earth, carrying a crew and a cargo into space, and returning to Earth to be used again. It is used primarily to transport a crew to an orbiting space station and to deploy and retrieve satellites.
Notes for space shuttle
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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