Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle (1981–2011). Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and officially known as the Space Transportation System (STS), it was th...

(Encyclopedia) exploration, travel to a part of the earth that is relatively unknown to the traveler's culture, historically often motivated by a desire for colonization, conquest, or trade. See also space explorati...

(Encyclopedia) navigation, science and technology of finding the position and directing the course of vessels and aircraft. The next great revolution in navigation occurred in the 20th cent., when radio signals ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Trinidad and Tobago trĭnˈĭdăd, təbāˈgō [key], officially Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, republic (2015 est. pop. 1,222,000), 1,980 sq mi (5,129 sq km), West Indies. The capital is Por...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Bahamas, the bəhäˈməz [key], officially Commonwealth of the Bahamas, independent nation (2020 ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Mississippi mĭsˌəsĭpˈē [key], one of the Deep South states of the United States. It is bordered by Alabama (E), the Gulf of Mexico (S), Arkansas and Louisiana, with most of that border fo...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 North America, third largest continent (2015 est. pop. 571,949,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. North America includes a...

(Encyclopedia) museums of art, institutions or buildings where works of art are kept for display or safekeeping. The word museum derives from the Greek mouseion, meaning temple to the works of the Muses. This articl...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Costa Rica kŏsˈtə rēˈkə [key], officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2020 est. pop. ...

(Encyclopedia) American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a federation of autonomous labor unions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and U.S. dependencies, formed in ...