space shuttle

noun

: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The proceedings commemorated the lives lost in NASA's three space tragedies — the Apollo 1 fire in January 1967, the space shuttle Challenger explosion in January 1986 and the shuttle Columbia disaster in February 2003. Mike Wall, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2025 The event remembers the crews of Apollo 1 and the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Andrew Torgan, CNN, 19 Jan. 2025 At over 320 feet tall (98 meters), New Glenn is shorter than an Apollo-era Saturn V (363 ft., or 111 m) but taller than both the space shuttle when it was fully stacked (184 ft., or 64 m) and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 (229 ft., or 70 m). Wendy Whitman Cobb, The Conversation, 16 Jan. 2025 Nelson flew aboard space shuttle Columbia in 1986 — on the flight before the Challenger disaster — while a congressman. Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for space shuttle 

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of space shuttle was in 1950

Dictionary Entries Near space shuttle

Cite this Entry

“Space shuttle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/space%20shuttle. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

space shuttle

noun
: a spacecraft designed to transport people and cargo between earth and space that can be used repeatedly

More from Merriam-Webster on space shuttle

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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