Rendering of the Space Shuttle performing a self-scan with the laser depth camera. Credit: NASA It’s impossible to say if knowing the full extent of the damage to Columbia’s wing would have ...

then descend to Earth and land like a space shuttle roughly 45 days later at KSC's Launch and Landing Facility. This artist's rendering depicts Sierra Space's Dream Chaser space plane. August 2024 ...

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. It occurred Feb. 1, 2003. For millions of Americans, it was an event that ...