On October 29, 1998, John Glenn launched on his second spaceflight, 36 years after his historic 1962 flight on the Mercury Friendship 7 spacecraft. When John Glenn boarded the shuttle orbiter Discovery, now in the Museum’s collection and displayed at our Udvar-Hazy Center, he was 77 years old—the oldest person yet to venture into space.

Space Shuttle Enterprise, the first space shuttle orbiter ever built, was once displayed where Discovery is today. Despite both being part of the Space Shuttle program, the two served very different purposes and tell very different stories.

While the Discovery is hard to miss at the Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, the little-known details help tell the orbiter’s unique and important history.  

How the patches on Sally Ride’s flight jacket help tell her groundbreaking story of spaceflight.

When my STS-98 crew launched into orbit on February 7, 2001—the first human space launch of the millennium—I marked the milestone by carrying with me two personal mementos of the landmark Stanly Kubrick science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Aerospace pioneers make all kinds of new discoveries during their careers—some even find that special someone along the way.

Fifteen years after the Columbia tragedy, Michael D. Leinbach, Space Shuttle Launch Director, and Jonathan H. Ward, space historian, look back at the harrowing process of recovering the spacecraft. 

NASA Astronaut and USAF command pilot Alvin Drew shares his reflections on a lifetime of exploring the universe.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the Columbia disaster.  Every year on this date I think about the crew of the Columbia, my students, and my most difficult day as a teacher.