NASA may have retired the Space Shuttle program many years ago, but that doesn't mean you can't learn a thing or two about how the spacecraft was landed safely on Earth after descending from outer space.
When it's in space, it's moving at more than 17,000 miles per hour, which is a bit too fast to land on a runway that's only about 3 miles in length.
Using air and special aerial maneuvers, NASA was able to get the Space Shuttle to slow down enough to descend safely on the landing strip just like a normal airliner would.
There are some catches however, as the Space Shuttle isn't quite as aerodynamic as an airplane is, so some minor modifications to the landing process were made especially for the space shuttle.
Today, we use modern rockets, and SpaceX is landing them upright in a fully autonomous manner. How's that for the evolution of space travel?
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NOV 16, 2016