space shuttle

noun

Definition of space shuttle

: a reusable spacecraft designed to transport people and cargo between earth and space

Examples of space shuttle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The toilet onboard the ISS was installed in 2008, during one of the last space shuttle missions. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "ISS Suffers Toilet Malfunction, Leaks Water Everywhere," 6 Feb. 2019 The flight marked the first time since the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle fleet in 2011 that a U.S.-built vehicle carried people into space. — Andy Pasztor, WSJ, "Richard Branson’s Space-Tourism Company Rockets Out of Atmosphere for First Time," 13 Dec. 2018 Laurel Clark, like all space shuttle astronauts, was very busy during her 16-day trip into space. — Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "To Racine's Laurel Clark, killed in 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster, life a 'magical thing'," 30 Jan. 2018 Zarrella: Astronauts have told me over the years that the space shuttle is clearly the most complicated vehicle ever built. — Margaret Lazarus Dean, Popular Mechanics, "The Oral History of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster," 28 Jan. 2019 Since the space shuttle was retired in 2011, Russia has flown NASA’s astronauts to the station, charging hundreds of millions of dollars over that time. — Christian Davenport, BostonGlobe.com, "NASA’s new administrator says he’s talking to companies to take over the International Space Station," 5 June 2018 In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger roared into orbit on its maiden voyage. — azcentral, "AZ Memo: Is ICE arresting activists to silence them? Will Mexico help Trump by halting migrant caravan?," 4 Apr. 2018 In 1983, astronaut Sally K. Ride became the first US woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission. — BostonGlobe.com, "This day in history," 17 June 2018 Arriving at the civilian space agency in the midst of the Apollo program, Peterson in fact waited 14 years for his opportunity to fly into space, ultimately being named to the maiden crew of the space shuttle Challenger. — Robert Z. Pearlman, Scientific American, "Pioneering NASA Astronaut Don Peterson Dies at 84," 30 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'space shuttle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.