The NASA Space Shuttle Cost $200,000,000,000 and Hit Mach 25 Coming Home 133 Times. The Fastest Machines Humans Ever Rode Now Stand in Four Museums.

From Nixon's 1972 promise to the museums: the Space Shuttle's development bill doubled, its fleet built the space station and saved Hubble, and two terrible mornings took fourteen astronauts. At every mission's end it hit the atmosphere at Mach 25 and glided home without engines — the fastest machines humans ever rode, now standing in four museums.