The Most Memorable Space Shuttle Missions The Most Memorable Space Shuttle Missions By Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor | May 30, 2011 02:22am ET MORE Credit: NASA NASA's Prolific Space Shuttles NASA's storied space shuttle program has seen some amazing highs, and a couple devastating lows over the course of its 30-year history. Soon, the world's first reusable spacecraft will retire to make way for NASA's next phase. But for now, here's a look back at the most memorable missions of the space shuttle's tenure. 2 of 20 Credit: NASA First Shuttle Flight: STS-1 (Columbia) On April 12, 1981, NASA's maiden space shuttle Columbia lifted off for the first time 30 years ago, carrying astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen. That mission marked many firsts, including the first time solid rocket engines were used to propel a spaceship into orbit, and the first time a spaceship landed back on Earth by gliding down a runway, instead of splashing into the ocean like Apollo capsules or on land like Russia's spacecraft.

Columbia's flight was also the first powered test flight of the space shuttle, and marked the first time a spacecraft's debut test flight was manned, rather than unmanned. Although the mission saw a few slight anomalies, overall the space shuttle performed exceptionally on its maiden voyage. 3 of 20 Credit: NASA A Shuttle Lands at White Sands: STS-3 (Columbia) This March 22, 1982 shuttle mission, the third flight of the fleet, was focused on further testing of the shuttle, including its robotic arm system, Canadarm, and its thermal protection shielding. Because of high winds at Columbia's planned landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the shuttle was forced to glide down at the backup site of White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, N.M. While the site, now called the White Sands Space Harbor, still remains a backup landing facility for the shuttle, a shuttle never landed there following the STS-3 mission.

4 of 20 Credit: NASA First American Woman in Space: STS-7 (Challenger) The STS-7 crew of space shuttle Challenger included Sally Ride when it sailed into orbit on June 18, 1983, making Ride the first American woman in space. The flight came 20 years after the mission that launched the first woman pilot into space, Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, during the former Soviet Union's June 1963 flight of Vostok 6. During the STS-7 mission, Ride and the other four astronauts onboard, led by Bob Crippen, deployed two telecommunications satellites—one for Canada and one for Indonesia. This was the seventh space shuttle mission, and was the second mission for the Challenger orbiter. At the time, the five spaceflyers on STS-7 were the largest single crew to fly together in space. 5 of 20 Credit: NASA First African-American Astronaut Reaches Space: STS-8 (Challenger) The very next shuttle mission after Ride's history-making launch saw the first flight of an African American in space. Guion Bluford launched aboard the shuttle Challenger on Aug.

30, 1983 along with four other astronauts led by commander Richard Truly. The crew released an Indian communications and weather satellite into orbit, and conducted a set of science experiments. They also tested the Canadarm on a dummy second payload. This mission was also the first time the space shuttle launched and landed at night. 6 of 20 Credit: NASA Shuttle Fleet's Spacelab Debut: STS-9 (Columbia) NASA's STS-9 flight of shuttle Columbia, the ninth shuttle flight, launched on Nov. 28, 1983 and was a mission dedicated entirely to science. It was the first mission to use the Spacelab module, a cylindrical laboratory of science experiments packed into the shuttle's cargo bay. The six crewmembers onboard spent 10 days on a joint NASA/European Space Agency program to demonstrate the usefulness of the shuttle to conduct advanced scientific research. Spacelab would go on to be used on 22 shuttle missions until April 1998. 7 of 20 Credit: NASA First Untethered Spacewalk: STS-41B (Challenger) The STS-41B flight of Challenger lifted off on Feb.

3, 1984 and marked the first time an astronaut spacewalked outside the shuttle without being tethered. Astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert L. Stewart tested out the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a robotic backpack with its own thrusters that allowed the spaceflyers to move around, becoming the first human satellites to orbit the Earth. This mission also marked the first time a space shuttle landed back where it launched, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. While Kennedy is now the preferred landing site for shuttles, the first space shuttle missions landed at California's Edwards Air Force Base. Now Edwards is used as a backup landing site. 8 of 20 Credit: NASA A Satellite Repair Shop: STS-41C (Challenger) On April 6, 1984, the shuttle Challenger launched on a mission to rendezvous with the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite (SolarMax) in what became the first in-space satellite repair. The spacecraft had been launched in 1980 to study solar flares, but was in need of some repairs.

The shuttle astronauts used a combination of spacewalks and robotic arm maneuvers to grab Solar Max and replace its attitude control mechanism and electronics systems, significantly boosting the life of the satellite. The activities would pave the way for other spacecraft servicing missions, such as those to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. 9 of 20 Credit: NASA First Space Shuttle Disaster: STS-51L (Challenger) On Jan. 28, 1986, NASA's space shuttle program saw its darkest day at the time, when seven astronauts lost their lives as Challenger disintegrated shortly after launch. One of them was high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who had been selected to be the first teacher in space. The problem began with exceptionally cold weather, which prevented a rubber O-ring on one of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters from maintaining its seal, allowing hot gas to leak and damage the shuttle's external fuel tank and the hardware attaching the booster to the vehicle. The right solid rocket booster separated from the shuttle, and the fuel tank broke apart, causing the orbiter to be torn apart by aerodynamic stresses.

[ Special Report: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster – 25 Years Later ] It would take two years of investigations and modifications before a NASA space shuttle flew in space again. 10 of 20 Credit: NASA Shuttle Fleet's Return-to-Flight Mission: STS-26 (Discovery) It took NASA 2 1/2 years to regroup from the Challenger disaster and launch the first return-to-flight mission, the STS-26 voyage of Discovery, led by commander Frederick Hauck, on Sept. 29, 1988. After Challenger, the space agency conducted a thorough review of the program and put many fixes in place to prevent another such accident. The STS-26 mission deployed a communications satellite and included a series of science experiments performed by Discovery's crew. Unfortunately, Challenger wouldn't be the last shattering loss for the shuttle program, although NASA maintained a clean record for 15 years after Discovery's return-to-flight mission.

11 of 20 Credit: NASA Launching Hubble: STS-31 (Discovery) The space shuttle Discovery added another notable launch to its list when it launched what remains the world's most famous telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, on April 24, 1990. Discovery's five-astronaut crew, led by commander Loren Shriver, spent five days in space deploying the observatory and conducting science experiments. Because of its vantage point in space, beyond Earth's blurring atmosphere, Hubble could take much more detailed photos than comparable ground telescopes. However, soon after the telescope started snapping pictures, scientists realized that an error in the construction of Hubble's main mirror was significantly compromising image quality, causing pictures to come out blurry. Luckily, Hubble is the only telescope designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. 12 of 20 Credit: NASA First Three-Person Spacewalk: STS-49 (Endeavour) On May 13, 1992, during the first mission of the space shuttle Endeavour, a trio of astronauts conducted the first spacewalk to involve more than two spacewalkers at once.

STS-49 mission specialists Pierre Thuot, Richard Hieb, and Thomas Akers conducted the extravehicular activity (EVA) to capture and repair the broken Intelsat VI-F3 satellite. The communications satellite had been stranded in the wrong orbit since its launch two years earlier in March 1990. The astronauts successfully attached a new second stage rocket to boost the spacecraft into its intended geosynchronous orbit. 13 of 20 Credit: NASA Fixing Hubble: STS-61 (Endeavour) Three years after Hubble launched into space with faulty optics, NASA launched the shuttle Endeavour on the STS-61 mission on Dec. 2, 1993. The mission came about after engineers completed a set of corrective optics to fix the problem, allowing NASA to launch seven astronauts on the first Hubble servicing mission. The crew, led by commander Richard Covey spent 10 days performing five spacewalks to install the new hardware. The new optics proved to correct the blurring, and STS-61 was pronounced a triumphant success, opening the door for Hubble to revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

[ Spectacular Photos From The Revamped Hubble Telescope ] STS-61 would be followed by four more servicing missions to upgrade Hubble over the years. 14 of 20 Credit: NASA Space Shuttle Docks at Russia's Mir: STS-71 (Atlantis) While the United States and Russia began the space race as competitors, they evolved into collaborators. One of the brightest moments of the partnership came on June 27, 1995 when a U.S. space shuttle docked to the Russian space station Mir. Atlantis' STS-71 mission delivered two Russian cosmonauts to the station to begin their months-long stay on Mir. The mission also picked up a NASA astronaut and two other cosmonauts – who had been serving on the Mir crew – to give them a ride home. 15 of 20 Credit: NASA Shuttle Launches Oldest Astronaut: STS-95 (Discovery) Shuttle Discovery carried the oldest person to space to date on Oct. 29, 1998 when it lifted off with Mercury astronaut and United States Senator John Glenn aboard.

[ Photos: Shuttle Discovery Sets Sail On Final Voyage ] The 77-year old Glenn was making his second spaceflight, after launching on Friendship 7 on Feb. 20, 1962. Glenn was one of the original Mercury 7, the first group of United States astronauts ever selected. He was the fifth person in space and the first American to orbit the Earth. 16 of 20 Credit: NASA Shuttle's First International Space Station Trek: STS-88 (Endeavour) The now-complete International Space Station has been called one of the space shuttle's crowning achievements, because many of its large components were only possible to haul to space inside the shuttle's roomy cargo bay. But in 1998, construction of the space station was just getting under way. NASA's first shuttle to visit the space station was Endeavour, which launched on the STS-88 mission on Dec. 4, 1998 and carried the first American module, the Unity node to the station. Unity was connected to the first space station segment, the Russian Zarya module, which Russia had launched less than a month earlier on a Russian Proton rocket.

17 of 20 Credit: NASA/JSC Columbia is Lost: STS-107 (Columbia) The tragic loss of space shuttle Columbia – NASA's first shuttle to fly – on Feb. 1, 2003, dealt a withering blow to the space shuttle program. The seven-member crew, led by commander Rick Husband, launched on Jan. 16 of that year and was returning home after a successful 16-day mission filled with microgravity and Earth science experiments when the orbiter broke up during re-entry to Earth. The cause was eventually traced to a piece of foam insulation on the shuttle's external tank, which had flaked off during launch and impacted the orbiter's left wing. Though no one knew it at the time, subsequent analysis showed the debris likely punched a plate-sized hole in the wing, causing the vehicle to fail to withstand the strains of reentry. 18 of 20 Credit: NASA NASA Shuttles Resume Spaceflights: STS-114 (Discovery) On July 26, 2005, the space shuttle fleet once again resumed spaceflights following a fatal accident.

Discovery's STS-114 mission came two years of investigation into the Columbia accident to identify improvements to enhance safety for the spaceflight program. Like the first return-to-flight mission, after Challenger, this voyage was flown by shuttle Discovery. The 13-day mission, led by commander Eileen Collins, tested out the new safety techniques that had been developed post-Columbia, including using a sensor system attached to a long pole to scan the orbiter after launch to make sure no catastrophic debris strikes have taken place. Discovery's crew also tested heat shield repair techniques during several spacewalks. Since then, heat shield inspections have become a standard part of every shuttle mission since the Columbia accident. 19 of 20 Credit: NASA The Last Shuttle Mission: STS-135 (Atlantis) In 2011, the space shuttle program flew its last flights. The final mission, slated to be flown by the shuttle Atlantis on June 28, 2011, will carry four astronauts and a cargo bay packed to the brim with spare supplies to the International Space Station. The shuttle Discovery launched on its last mission Feb. 24, 2011. The orbiter delivered the final major U.S.

contribution to the space station – the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo – effectively completing the American portion of the orbiting lab. The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to lift off on its last space voyage June 29 to bring a cosmic ray-hunting astrophysics experiment and a load of extra hardware to the space station. After the final space shuttle flights, NASA's three orbiters are to be retired to American museums. 20 of 20 How NASA Prepares for the Final Space Shuttle Launch How NASA Prepares for the Final Space Shuttle Launch By Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer | June 14, 2011 06:00am ET MORE Bright xenon lights flare while space shuttle Atlantis rolls down a 3.4-mile stretch of river rocks, as the vehicle embarks on its historic final journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on May 31, 2011. Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller With just one more mission remaining before the end of NASA’s storied 30-year space shuttle, the agency has shifted its focus to the final launch of Atlantis on July 8.

But exactly how does NASA get a space shuttle ready to fly? Atlantis moved to its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on May 31, with final preparations under way for its planned liftoff on July 8 at 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT). The shuttle rolled out to the launch pad just hours before its sister ship, NASA’s shuttle Endeavour, landed early on June 1 to wrap up its own final mission: a 16-day delivery flight to the International Space Station. Atlantis’ final voyage will come less than six weeks after Endeavour’s return. The shuttle will fly one last 12-day trip to the space station to deliver vital supplies. [ Gallery: Shuttle Atlantis' Last Launch Pad Trek ] Here's a look at the major milestones that have been completed, and the remaining ones leading up to the final launch of NASA's space shuttle program: The crew of STS-135, NASA's final mission for its space shuttle program, pose in front of their spacecraft, space shuttle Atlantis on May 17, 2011.

From left to right: mission specialist Rex Walheim, commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialist Sandra Magnus. Credit: collectSPACE /Robert Pearlman Moving to the Vehicle Assembly Building On May 17, Atlantis made the trip from its processing hangar at KSC to the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), in a procedure that NASA calls "rollover." When Atlantis and its sister ships return home from space, ground teams perform inspections and maintenance on the shuttles in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). Atlantis had been in the OPF since its most recent voyage – the STS-132 mission in May 2010. To get to the VAB, Atlantis travelled on a giant 18-wheel transporter platform. To mark the final shuttle missions, NASA has been inviting the thousands of workers who are part of the shuttle program to experience many of the major pre-launch milestones with their friends and families. During Atlantis' rollover, many NASA civil servants took photos alongside the orbiter they have worked on for decades.

In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, shuttle Atlantis is lifted by an overhead crane and moved into a high bay where it will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters which are already on the mobile launcher platform. NASA plans to launch Atlantis on the STS-135 mission in mid-July 2011. Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis The four astronauts who will fly Atlantis on its STS-135 mission — commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim — were also present to take part in the occasion. Inside the VAB, Atlantis was lifted and attached to its massive external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters. Rolling out to the launch pad The next phase in the pre-launch preparations involves moving Atlantis from the VAB to its seaside launch pad. This process is known in NASA parlance as "rollout." Atlantis began rolling to the pad just after 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 June 1 GMT) on May 31, mere hours before Endeavour touched down at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility.

Space shuttle Atlantis, attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters atop a mobile launcher platform, slowly inches out of the Vehicle Assembly Building for the final time, on May 31, 2011. Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller To make the 3.4-mile (5.2-kilometer) journey to Launch Pad 39A, the newly-assembled shuttle sits atop NASA's Apollo-era crawler transporter and slowly and carefully inches to the pad. It typically takes about six hours for a shuttle to roll out to the launch pad. Brilliant xenon spotlights showered Atlantis in light as it rolled out of the VAB in front of record crowds. Atlantis' four astronauts were on hand at the event to address members of the media and enjoy the historic milestone. [ The Most Memorable Space Shuttle Missions ] Shuttle program employees were once again invited to take part in the rollout, and NASA officials estimated that thousands of people showed up to mark the final time an orbiter makes its slow and majestic crawl to the pad. "We couldn't be more honored to be here and share it with them," pilot Doug Hurley told reporters during rollout, as Atlantis shone brightly behind him and his crewmates.

"Obviously, the priority for us is to safely accomplish the STS-135 mission, but I think, almost as strong, is to just be able to share this experience with the folks who have worked on this vehicle for 30-plus years. We wouldn't be anywhere else but here tonight, so we're very honored to be here." Space shuttle Discovery stands on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Friday morning as a tanking test begins. The wires in this image lead to some of the 89 strain gauges and thermocouples installed on the external tank for the test. Credit: NASA TV Extra tests for Atlantis' fuel tank With Atlantis now secured to its launch pad, ground teams are planning to perform what is called a "tanking test" on June 15, to make sure the shuttle's external tank is safe and robust to fly. NASA decided to perform the test due to issues that were detected on the shuttle Discovery's external tank, which delayed the STS-133 mission for several months. Repairs and modifications were eventually made to Discovery's tank , and when the shuttle launched in late February, the external tank performed flawlessly, NASA officials said.

Since Atlantis' external tank was constructed with the same materials and was manufactured during the same processing flow, engineers preemptively modified the tank the same way they did with Discovery's. The tanking test on June 15 will allow ground teams to collect data and assess how these modifications will hold up for launch. Engineers will take X-ray scans of the orbiter-facing side of a section called the intertank, which is the part of the external tank that caused troubles in the lead up to Discovery's launch. The tanking test involves fueling the orbiter and running through regular countdown procedures. This provides detailed information about how the tank performs during the fueling process, and the data will help NASA officials assess the health of the modifications that were made to the intertank. "We're going to go ahead and do the tanking test to prove to ourselves that nothing unexpected happened, all our models are right, and we do understand how this [modification] performs," Mike Moses, chair of the shuttle's mission management team, said in a news briefing on June 1. "The X-rays are really that double check to show we understand the stresses that got put into the system.

Obviously we'll look at the data and if we're not happy with what we see, we'll take the next course of action. It really is that safety check of that band-aid that we put on the tank." Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 crew members pose for a group photo on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after arriving on March 29, 2011 to begin final launch training ahead of an April 19 liftoff. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Launch rehearsal for astronauts On June 23, Ferguson, Hurley, Magnus and Walheim will travel from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT). This two-day event acts as a practice run-through of the countdown and launch and is also the time when the astronauts receive emergency training at the Florida spaceport. This launch day practice run is the last major training exercise for the astronauts before their scheduled liftoff. In addition to countdown preparations and emergency training, the crewmembers also participate in a variety of media events during TCDT. The commander and pilot typically also have opportunities to practice landings at the Shuttle Landing Facility.

The astronauts fly a modified Gulstream aircraft that simulates the shuttle's approach and landing. For their emergency training, the crew reviews procedures for the launch tower escape system, which is a 1,200-foot (366-meter) long "slidewire" that whisks the astronauts away from any danger at the pad. The crewmembers slide down in baskets to an emergency evacuation bunker nearby. During TCDT, the astronauts don their pressurized launch and entry suits and perform a complete run-through of activities on launch day to prepare themselves for the real thing. [ Suit Suite: Cosmic Apparel over the Years ] Setting the official launch date Once all these other milestones are met, the STS-135 mission is primed for its Flight Readiness Review (FRR). There are two different FRR meetings – one among shuttle program managers, and then a separate executive-level meeting with top NASA officials. In these meetings, program managers, flight directors, mission managers and other top agency officials will discuss any issues that may have come up with the orbiter or its component parts, and assess the readiness of the vehicle and ground teams for launch. The shuttle program FRR is scheduled to take place on June 21.

After Atlantis' executive-level FRR on June 28, NASA will call a press briefing and announce the official STS-135 launch date and time. The space shuttle Discovery's final crew, the six astronauts of NASA's STS-133 mission, head to Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch on Feb. 24, 2011. Credit: collectSPACE /Robert Z. Pearlman Arrival of the astronaut crew NASA is currently targeting a July 8 launch for Atlantis' STS-135 mission, but an official launch date and time will be announced following the Flight Readiness Review. Once the launch date is set, the next major milestone is when the crew arrives at Kennedy Space Center for their scheduled liftoff. The astronauts typically arrive at KSC four days ahead of their launch, but NASA is planning to observe the July 4th holiday weekend, said launch director Mike Leinbach. "The weekend of July 4th, we have all three days off, so we're looking forward to that holiday," Leinbach said.

"We'll be working weekends leading up to that July 4th weekend holiday, but it's different crews on different weekend days, depending on what the tasks are, so we're not going to be stressing one particular group at all." The astronauts fly from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to their Florida launch site in the agency's T-38 jets. These white, supersonic jets are used by astronauts to maintain their aerial skills between missions. Upon their arrival at KSC, the astronauts begin their final preparations before launch and enter into medical quarantine to ensure that they are healthy for their upcoming mission. After that, the next major milestone that awaits them is their historic liftoff into history on Atlantis' final mission into space. You can follow SPACE.com Staff Writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow . Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .

Editor's Recommendations Last shuttle commander ‘back in the fight’ with Boeing – Spaceflight Now July 11, 2016 Stephen Clark When Chris Ferguson climbed into the commander’s seat of the shuttle Atlantis five years ago Friday for the spaceship’s final flight, he didn’t know what turn his career would take when he returned to Earth. Like many space shuttle workers, Ferguson had to decide what to do next. Atlantis’ final flight, which lifted off July 8, 2011, was Ferguson’s third space mission and capped a nearly 30-year flying career with the Navy and NASA. He reminisced about Atlantis’ 13-day mission in 2011 last month during an informal meeting with reporters. “On the last day, I tried to make it a point to say goodbye to every shift (in mission control) because I knew when they left the control center it was never going to be the same for them, so we tried to make it special for them,” Ferguson said. “After the last goodbye, I thought, you know what? I have no idea where I’m going to be in a month.

I knew we had all the post-flight stuff to do, but I had no idea what my future held. Am I going to go teach at college? What am I going to do?” The shuttle’s retirement drastically cut flight opportunities for NASA’s astronaut corps, who now ride to the space station one at a time on Russian Soyuz capsules. After joining Boeing in late 2011, Ferguson helps lead the company’s development of the CST-100 Starliner space taxi, one of two U.S.-built commercial spacecraft selected by NASA to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. “Now I find myself right back in the fight again, right back in the fight as a stakeholder in making sure that we’re successful,” Ferguson said. Chris Ferguson, in blue, walks around the shuttle Atlantis shortly after its landing in July 2011 to conclude the last space shuttle flight. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Five years after the space shuttle’s swan song, two vehicles are racing to be the first to restore U.S. human spaceflight capability.

Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules are the contenders, with Boeing aiming for a first orbital demonstration flight with two test pilots in February 2018. SpaceX says the Crew Dragon is set for its first crewed test flight, also with two astronauts, in late 2017. NASA’s contract with Boeing has a maximum value $4.2 billion. SpaceX’s commercial crew deal with the space agency is worth up to $2.6 billion. Both companies say their schedules are success-oriented, and officials from Boeing, SpaceX and NASA acknowledge the timelines are tight to meet those dates. Safety is also paramount, managers said, and supersedes any schedule commitment. Atlantis’ last crew left a small U.S. flag aboard the space station to be returned by the next American crew transport that reaches the complex. Ferguson is often asked whether he will fly on the first CST-100 Starliner test mission. Boeing plans to send a company test pilot and a NASA astronaut on the demo flight to the space station in early 2018, but managers have not selected the crew members.

NASA has assigned four astronauts — Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Douglas Hurley and Sunita Williams — to train for the initial CST-100 and Crew Dragon flights. A decision on crew for the first demo mission is not expected until next year. Boeing’s CST-100 program is headquartered at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, a few miles from the Atlas 5 rocket’s launch pad where they will blast off to the space station. Ferguson now has an office at KSC, where he oversees crew and mission operations. “I was standing at my office desk looking out the window, and I saw the last Falcon 9 launch,” Ferguson said. “There are worse office desks in the world. We see the SLS (Space Launch System) platforms going together. There’s a lot of activity at KSC.” Artist’s concept of the CST-100 Starliner assembly and refurbishment facility at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Boeing Boeing leased a former shuttle hangar at the spaceport to assemble CST-100 Starliners, and the company transferred management of the commercial crew program to Florida to be near the capsule’s launch facility. The U.S.

Air Force’s reusable uncrewed X-37B space plane, also built and refurbished by Boeing, is housed at a modified shuttle processing building a few hundred feet from the CST-100 capsule assembly line. Inside the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building, workers are building up platforms inside High Bay 3 for the Space Launch System, a super-heavy-lift rocket NASA plans to use for human expeditions into deep space, starting with piloted flights around the moon in the early 2020s. Launch pads at Cape Canaveral are also seeing changes. The historic launch complex used for the Apollo 11 moon landing mission — and last used on the final shuttle flight in 2011 — is now under SpaceX management. The California-based company, led by Elon Musk, will base all of its Crew Dragon launches on Falcon 9 rockets from launch pad 39A, which workers are now outfitting with infrastructure to support astronaut flights. Construction cranes built up a crew access tower last year at Complex 41, United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 launch pad, to allow astronauts to board Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. A crew access arm and white room will be added in the coming weeks, Ferguson said.

“It’s a far cry from where it was four-and-a-half years ago at this time,” Ferguson said. “There are a lot of cars in the parking lot, a lot of different activities, three different spacecraft that will carry humans in various stages of development, whether it’s the pad, the VAB platforms for SLS, our spacecraft, and X-37 is right across the aisle. “It’s sort of a hopping place. For each one, it’s like are we all going to live in this symbiotic relationship where we’re all providing reliable inexpensive transportation to low Earth orbit,” Ferguson said. “That, to me, is sort of like nirvana.” Shuttle Ends Its Final Voyage and an Era in Space - The New York Times The New York Times Space & Cosmos |The Shuttle Ends Its Final Voyage and an Era in Space Search Continue reading the main story Photo Space shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday. Credit Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times The last space shuttle flight rolled to a stop just before 6 a.m. on Thursday, closing an era in the nation’s space program. “Mission complete, Houston,” said Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson of the Navy, commander of the shuttle Atlantis for the last flight.

“After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history, and it’s come to a final stop.” The landing, the 19th before daylight at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, concluded the 135th shuttle mission. For the Atlantis, the final tally of its 26-year career was 33 missions, accumulating just under 126 million miles during 307 days in space and circumnavigating the Earth 4,848 times. Workers used spray paint to mark the position of the Atlantis’s wheels; a permanent marker will be placed on the runway to indicate the final resting spot of the space shuttle program. The last day in space went smoothly. At 4:49 a.m., the Atlantis fired its maneuvering engines to slow down and begin its fall back into Earth’s atmosphere. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Descending in a northeast trajectory, it passed over the southeast Pacific Ocean and crossed Central America toward Florida. On the International Space Station, Michael Fossum, a NASA astronaut, floated in the station’s windowed cupola and observed the trail of hot plasma that marked Atlantis’s re-entry.

Less than 10 minutes before landing, Captain Ferguson described the view from his window. “Beautiful view of the Yucatán, I think, going right under the wing right now,” he said. “It’s a gorgeous thing.” “You’re looking good to us, Atlantis,” responded Barry E. Wilmore, an astronaut at mission control in Houston. But he added a correction: “You’re just passing the west coast of Florida.” Photo The International Space Station seen from the space shuttle Atlantis as it flew away on Tuesday. Credit NASA, via Associated Press “Huh? O.K.,” Captain Ferguson said in surprise. “I’m further than I thought we were.” In the clear, windless predawn, twin sonic booms announced the impending arrival as the Atlantis slowed to less than the speed of sound. It made a wide turn to line up with the runway, concluding the 5,284,862-mile trip. During its 13-day mission, the Atlantis ferried 8,000 pounds of supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station and brought back some pieces, including a failed pump from the space station’s cooling system, which engineers want to examine more closely.

With the retirement of the shuttles, NASA will no longer be able to return large pieces of equipment back to Earth. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy NASA will now begin the work of transforming the Atlantis into a museum piece. It will be mounted nearby at the space center’s visitor center. At a news conference after the landing, Michael D. Leinbach, the shuttle launching director, talked about the mixed emotions of the workers and NASA officials who had gathered on the runway. “I saw grown men and grown women crying today,” Mr. Leinbach said. “Tears of joy, to be sure, and that was just human emotions came out on the runway today. You couldn’t suppress them.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story There was pride among the shuttle workers, Mr. Leinbach said, that even as the program was shutting down, they had maintained their high standards. “Over the past three or four years, we’ve been concentrating on completing the job we were given to do,” he said. “We’ve done that now, successfully.

We have a lot of pride in that, and no one can take that away from us.” But jobs will be taken away. Although no NASA government employees have been laid off, the jobs of NASA contractors working in the shuttle program were cut deeply as the program wound down. Three years ago, 15,000 people worked at the Kennedy Space Center. As of Thursday, employment had fallen to 11,500. It is expected to drop soon to 8,200 before edging up to 10,000 in a few years as new NASA programs begin. Hardest hit is United Space Alliance , the company that handled the maintenance of the shuttles and prepared each one for flight. It will lay off 46 percent of its 5,200 workers in the coming weeks. Nearly all of the 1,643 workers losing their jobs in Florida will be out the door on Friday, a company spokesman said.

“Landing,” said Allard Beutel, a NASA spokesman, “really was a heck of a last day for them.” A version of this article appears in print on July 22, 2011, on Page A3 of the New York edition with the headline: Shuttle Ends Its Final Voyage, and an Era in Space. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe collectSPACE - STS-135 - The Final Flight - Flight Day Journal posted July 21, 2011 4:52 a.m. CDT Twin sonic booms heard over Florida, announcing a space shuttle's final time returning to the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center. STS-135 commander Chris Ferguson has now taken control of Atlantis to guide it through a 240-degree left overhead turn to align with Runway 15 for a 5:57 a.m. EDT touchdown in Florida. S-turns posted July 21, 2011 4:29 a.m. CDT Atlantis is now flying a series of four steep banks, rolling as much as 80 degrees to one side or the other, to slow its approach.

The first of these banks, at 5:29 a.m. EDT, rolled Endeavour 80 degrees to the left. Its first left-to-right turn will occur 12 minutes later. This series of roll and roll-reversal commands gives the shuttle's ground track toward the landing site the appearance of an elongated "S," hence they are referred to as "S-turns." Entry interface posted July 21, 2011 4:25 a.m. CDT Space shuttle Atlantis, flying Mach 25 over the South Pacific Ocean with its nose tipped up and its wings level, encountered the first traces of the Earth's atmosphere, known as "entry interface," at 5:25 a.m. EDT at an altitude of 400,000 feet while still 5,000 miles from the Kennedy Space Center. Deorbit burn Commander Chris Ferguson fired Atlantis' orbital maneuvering engines at 4:49:04 a.m. EDT for three minutes and 16 seconds, slowing the orbiter's velocity by about 226 miles per hour (331 fps), starting his and his three crewmates' return to Earth.

"Good burn, no trim required," reported capcom Barry "Butch" Wilmore. "Those engines worked beautifully, up to the very end," Ferguson said, referring to the shuttle's twin orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines. Atlantis is on its way from its final mission, a 13-day flight to restock the International Space Station with a year's worth of supplies. Landing on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida is set for 5:56 a.m. EDT. "Go" for going home posted July 21, 2011 3:15 a.m. CDT Atlantis, flying the final space shuttle mission, will be returning today to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Flight controllers gave STS-135 mission commander Chris Ferguson the word that he had a "go" to perform the deorbit burn that will initiate the Atlantis' 33rd and final journey back into the Earth's atmosphere. "Everything is looking fantastic therefore you are go for the deorbit burn," radioed capcom Barry "Butch" Wilmore to Atlantis' crew.

Ferguson will fire Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines at 4:49:04 a.m. EDT, setting up a 5:56 a.m. landing on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility. Configuring Atlantis for its return home posted July 21, 2011 2:45 a.m. CDT Space shuttle Atlantis' two 60-foot payload bay doors were closed at 1:17 a.m. CDT and STS-135 commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, and flight engineer Rex Walheim began changing over the shuttle's flight controls from OPS-2, the software used they used for on-orbit operations, to OPS-3, used for reentry and landing, about five minutes later. The preparations are leading up to Atlantis performing its deorbit burn at 4:49 a.m. EDT, setting up a 5:56 a.m. touchdown on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. Weather remains observed and forecast "go" for landing.

Today in Space Shuttle History posted July 20, 2011 11:30 p.m. CDT Each day that the final space shuttle mission is in flight, collectSPACE plans to highlight milestones and events from the space shuttle's history that also occurred on the same day over the past three decades. "Today in Space Shuttle History" will also note "lasts" being set by the STS-135 mission. STS-135 Flight Day 14, July 21 1978 The first space shuttle orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engine is test fired at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Mounted in two "pods" located on either side of the shuttle orbiter's vertical stabilizer, or tail, the OMS engines are used to insert the shuttle into orbit, to adjust its orbit once there, and to bring the vehicle out of orbit at the end of each mission. 2001 Space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station (at 11:54 p.m. CDT) ending more than eight days of docked operations during the STS-104 mission.

2011 Atlantis returns home to Earth and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, culminating its 33rd and final mission, STS-135, and the last flight of the space shuttle program. Crew prepares for final shuttle landing posted July 20, 2011 10:50 p.m. CDT The final day of the final space shuttle mission began at 8:29 p.m. CDT with an iconic final wakeup song. Kate Smith's rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" was played by Mission Control in Houston to wake commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. But unlike most wakeup songs, which are played in honor of a particular crew member, this one was dedicated to not only the entire crew, but also all "the men and women who put their heart and soul into the shuttle program for all these years," as capcom Shannon Lucid told the crew. Ferguson said it was an appropriate song for their last day in space. "Thank you, America, for supporting this program," said Ferguson.

"We'll see you on the ground here in a few short hours, hopefully." Preparations are now underway for space shuttle Atlantis' 33rd and final landing, scheduled for 5:56 a.m. EDT, just before dawn in Florida. The teams on the ground will spend the intervening time taking a close look at weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which are forecast to be favorable, before giving the crew a go or no-go to perform a deorbit burn at 4:49 a.m. EDT to put Atlantis on the path home. If, for any reason, the first opportunity can't be taken, a second chance would allow Atlantis to land in Florida at 7:32 a.m. EDT. To make that touchdown time, the crew would perform a deorbit burn at 6:25 a.m. EDT. Additional opportunities are also available on Friday morning. Assuming Atlantis does land on its first opportunity today, it'll be the 19th night landing at Kennedy Space Center, and the 78th landing there at any time of the day.

There have been 54 landings at Edwards Air Force Base in California over the course of the space shuttle program, and one at the White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico, for a total — including today's scheduled landing — of 133 space shuttle landings in 30 years. NASA Space Shuttle TV Schedule Transfer to Outlook Calendar - Home NASA Space Shuttle TV Schedule Transfer to Outlook Calendar license Are you Sure? X By clicking Delete, all history, comments and attachments for this page will be deleted and cannot be restored. Subscribe Project Description The NASA Space Shuttle TV Schedule Transfer to Outlook Calendar provides an easy method for you to transfer NASA's Space Shuttle mission schedules, published in Excel, to your Outlook Calendar. Mission Schedules With the close of the Space Shuttle era, I uploaded my collection, from 2008 through 2011, of the full set of Space Shuttle mission schedules, including as many revisions that were published during a particular mission, that I have.

Mission schedules in this zip file include the full set of revisions for STS-119, STS-122, STS-123, STS-124, STS-125, STS-126, STS-127, STS-128, STS-129, STS-130, STS-131, STS-132, STS-133, STS-134, and STS-135. Head over to the Download page and download Mission Schedules. Photo credit: NASA Landing Transcript (July 21, 2011) On July 21, 2011, 5:57 AM EDT, landing announcer, Rob Navias: "Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, it's place in history secured, the space shuttle pulls into port one final time. It's voyage at an end." Atlantis Commander Chris "Fergie" Ferguson: "Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history.

It's come to a final stop." Houston CAPCOM, astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore: "We copy your wheels stopped, and we'll take this opportunity to congratulate you, Atlantis, as well as the thousands of passionate individuals across this great, space-faring nation who truly empower this incredible spacecraft, which for three decades has inspired millions around the globe, Job well done." Atlantis Commander: Chris "Fergie" Ferguson: "Hey thanks, Butch, great words, great words. You know, the space shuttle has changed the way we view the world and it's changed the way we view our universe. There are a lot of emotions today, but one thing is indisputable -- America's not going to stop exploring. Thank you Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and our ship, Atlantis. Thank you for protecting us and bringing this program to such a fitting end. God bless all of you, God bless the United States of America." -- "It was an honor to be a guest of NASA to be at the first and only @NASATweetup for a Space Shuttle landing .

To see a Space Shuttle's launch and landing was something I never expected." Ralph Hightower Launch Transcript (July 8, 2011) Mike Leinbach, NASA Launch Director, radioed "OK, Fergie, we're starting to feel pretty good here on the ground about this one today so on behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you and your crew on the final flight of this true American icon. And so for the final time, Fergie, Doug, Sandy and Rex, good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there." Chris Fergurson replied "Hey, thanks to you and your team, Mike and until the very end, you all made it look easy. The shuttle's always going to be a reflection of what a great nation can do when it dares to be bold and commits to follow through. We're not ending the journey today, Mike, we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end. You and the thousands of men and women who gave their hearts, souls and their lives to the cause of exploration ...

let's light this fire one more time, Mike, and witness this nation at its best." Idea Man, Project coordinator and Developer, Ralph Hightower's view of the liftoff of Atlantis from the NASA Causeway, July 8, 2011. Camera: Canon A-1, 70-205mm zoom lens @ 205mm, Kodak Ektar 100 film. Copyright 2011, Ralph Hightower. At 11:29 AM EDT, July 8, 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis launched her final mission, ending 30 years of Space Shuttle flights. Kennedy Liftoff Commentator George Diller: "And liftoff. The final liftoff of Atlantis, shoulders of the Space Shuttle, America will continue the dream." Johnson Launch Commentator, Rob Navias: "Houston now controlling the flight of Atlantis as the Space Shuttle spreads its wings one final time for a sentimental journey into history." At MECO (Main Engine Cutoff): "Booster officer confirms Main Engine Cutoff.

For the last time the Space Shuttle Main Engines have fallen silent as the shuttle slips into the final chapter of a storied 30 year adventure." NASA's Final Four Space Shuttle Astronauts: STS-135 crew portrait. Pictured are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson (center right), commander; Doug Hurley (center left), pilot; Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus, both mission specialists. Photo credit: NASA STS-135 Mission Patch Atlantis Landing Gear Wheel Stop JSC2011-E-068008 (21 July 2011) --- Red paint marks the location where Atlantis' main landing gear came to a stop on the runway after the space shuttle landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, 2011. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N.

Pool JSC2011-E-068007 (21 July 2011) --- Green paint marks the location where Atlantis' nose landing gear came to a stop on the runway after the space shuttle landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, 2011. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool My interview with the local CBS affliliate WLTX: Ralph Hightower Wins NASA Tweetup to See Space Shuttle Atlantis Landing . The day before landing, I stopped by WLTX's studio to appear live on their morning show in the 6 AM time slot on my drive down to Florida for the @NASATweetup STS-135 Landing Tweetup. Thirty years of Space Shuttle flights ended on July 21, 2011 at 5:57 AM EDT. STS-135. Atlantis official launch date was July 8, 2011 at 11:26:46 AM EDT for a 12 day mission to the International Space Station.

Atlantis will carry the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. The mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. After some drama with the weather not cooperating and at T-31 when the O2 vent hood signaled it hadn't fully retracted at the launch pad, Atlantis and her crew of four, CDR Chris Ferguson, PLT Doug Hurley, MS1 Sandy Magnus, and MS2 Rex Walheim, rocketed into history at 11:39 AM EDT to close out the Space Shuttle program. My Flickr Photo Set "STS-135: Final Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis" Where as the launch of Atlantis was filled with drama, the landing of Atlantis had none. There were no weather contrainst from bringing Atlantis home on July 21, 2011. The skies were crystal clear, or in the words of NASA Astronaut, Rick Sturckow, who was flying weather recon in the Shuttle Training Aircraft, "severe clear".

At the runway viewing site for NASA's first and only Tweetup for a Space Shuttle landing, I was surprised by the twin sonic booms; they were sharp, crisp, and clear. My Flickr Photo Set "STS-135 Landing: Atlantis Pulls into Port One Final Time" Since the last Space Shuttle has entered retirement, this program also goes into retirement with the Space Shuttle fleet. I hope that you have found the program as useful as I have. If you are on Twitter, there are a number of different Tweetups to follow for the launch of Atlantis of the @NASA #FinalFour @NASA_Astronauts to launch on the Space Shuttle: Commander Christopher Ferguson @Astro_Ferg , Pilot Douglas G. Hurley @Astro_Doug , Mission Specialist Sandra H. Magnus @Astro_Sandy , and Mission Specialist Rex J. Walheim @Astro_Rex : @NASATweetup/sts-135-launch 150 Twitters, selected at random by NASA tweeted coverage of prelaunch activities and tours of KSC and tweet their experiences from the press site, 3 miles from the launch pad, at the iconic countdown clock.

@CausewayTweetup/sts135-causewaytweetup An informal gathering of those who tweeted from the A Max Brewer Causeway, aka, the NASA Causeway, 6 miles from the action on the launch pad. @SVPTweetup : Another informal gathering of those that tweeted from Space View Park in Titusville, FL, 15 miles from launch site. People could register at . Launch Window for STS-135 From CBS Space News maintained by CBS News reporter, Bill Harwood DATE In-plane launch time is 10 seconds earlier than planar open Editorial Opinion I do have to say that while the Space Shuttle cannot fly to the moon, nothing is comparable to the capabilities of the Space Shuttle to haul stuff up to low Earth orbit and also bring stuff back home. I find it sad that the Space Shuttle program is retired. I understand the reasons: after Challenger and Columbia, it was too cost prohibitive to recertify the Space Shuttle for flight. Constellation was underfunded from the get-go and became over-budget and behind schedule because of lack of adequate funding. Still, I am overjoyed that I will finally check off THE TOP ITEM on my bucket list!

I saw the last launch of Apollo, the US half of the Apollo/Soyuz launch, July 15, 1975. I saw, I heard, I felt! The thunder from the Saturn vibrated my chest! I am so anxious to compare the two launch experiences. New Version 1.4.134.3 required for STS-134 (Endeavour) Version 1.4.134.3 fixed a problem detecting the end of Endeavour's crew sleep period and is the recommended version for STS-134. A new version for Endeavour's final mission, STS-134, has been published to CodePlex. NASA Space Shuttle TV Schedule Release v1.4.134.2 is required for STS-134 mission schedules. There are three different sleep periods during the STS-134 mission, the Endeavour's crew, the International Space Station crew, and Expedition 27/28 crew member, Ron Garan. Prior versions could accomodate Space Shuttle and ISS crew sleep schedules, but not three. This version now handles STS-134 mission schedule files published in Excel format.

Version numbering scheme: the third number reflects the mission number. Newer versions are backward compatible with prior missions. STS-134. Endeavour landed June 1, 2011 at 2:35 AM EDT for her final mission. Endeavour launched on her final mission at 08:56:24 AM EDT, May 16, 2011. STS-134 is a 17 day mission for the 36th station flight (ULF6) to deliver EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 3 (ELC3), Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a cool tool! You don't want to miss this mission! This mission will be unique because ISS Expedition 27 crew will undock from their Soyuz and return to Earth. Changes to the AMS to switch out the helium cooled magnet for another magnet to extend the life of the AMS forced the delay of the mission. Below is the launch window for Endeavour. The April 29, 2011 launch was scrubbed due to a problem with an Auxiliary Power Unit thermostat.

STS-134 Related Notes Revision A of the schedule that NASA published does not have a revision date in the schedule. Open up the spreadsheet and put 5/16/11 in where REV A is and save the spreadsheet. STS-114 Launch and Landing Photographs I like these photos of the STS-114, Return to Flight mission, commanded by Eileen Collins: STS-114 Launch, July 26, 2005. Photo Credit: NASA| STS-114 Landing, August 5, 2005. Photo Credit: NASA Download this application before the Space Shuttle is retired! You didn't? Well, that's okay because I uploaded my collection of NASA's Space Shuttle mission schedules to the Downloads . Announcement Do you answer yes to any of the following questions? Does the thunder and blaze of a launch still thrill you? Are you still interested in manned spaceflight? Do you still follow NASA's Space Shuttle missions? If you answered yes to any of the questions, then this program is for you!

The NASA Space Shuttle TV Schedule Transfer to Outlook Calendar program reads the Excel spreadsheet for the Space Shuttle mission TV schedules provided by NASA on their web site, , and can transfer the schedule into your Outlook Calendar. By "syncing" your PDA with Outlook, you can have the NASA Space Shuttle schedules in the palm of your hand. All you have to do is download the Excel spreadsheet from NASA to your local hard drive and then run the program and tell the program to open the Excel spreadsheet that you just downloaded. Instructions for use: Create a category for the program to add to the schedule. I use "NASA TV Schedule - STS" and the program uses "NASA TV Schedule - STS" as the default. You want to assign a category to the mission schedule because the program will delete appointments by that category to revise the schedule. Download the Excel spreadsheet from NASA ( ). Start the application and tell it to open the Excel file that you just downloaded. Select the events in the top half that you want to track in your Outlook calendar. Tell the program to transfer the selected events from the NASA schedule to your Outlook calendar. There are several other buttons that make it easy as pushing a button to update your calendar, such as Select All, Remove Selected Events.

The Smart Select button looks at the date and time range of the NASA schedule file and selects those events in your Outlook calendar that is within the NASA schedule. This makes it easy to remove events and add rescheduled events. The "New Schedule Update" button makes it easy for you to open the revised schedule and have the program automagically update your schedule. NASA Links NASA Launches Space Shuttle on Historic Final Mission NASA Launches Space Shuttle on Historic Final Mission <a href=' Wall</a>, SPACE.com Senior Writer<br /><a href="" >Space.com</a> Janelle Monáe's NASA photoshoot makes the space age cool again More This story was updated at 2 p.m. EDT. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The space shuttle Atlantis soared into the heavens and the history books Friday (July 8), kicking off the last-ever mission of NASA's storied shuttle program. Despite a bleak forecast of thunderstorms and clouds, the shuttle beat the weather in a stunning midday launch, sailing into the sky on one final voyage. The coutndown toward liftoff took a dramatic pause at T minus 31 seconds while ground crews verified that a vent arm at the top of the shuttle was fully retracted.

NASA was quickly able to push on toward liftoff. Atlantis blasted off at 11:29 a.m. EDT (1529 GMT) from Launch Pad 39A here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, thrilling huge throngs of spectators who had descended on Florida's Space Coast to see the swan song of an American icon. NASA estimated that between 750,000 and 1 million people turned out to watch history unfold before their eyes. "On behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you and your crew on the final flight of this true American icon," shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts just before launch. "And so for the final time, Fergie, Doug, Sandy and Rex, good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there." "Thanks to you and your team, Mike. We're not ending the journey today, we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end," Atlantis' commander Chris Ferguson replied. "Let's light this shuttle one more time Mike and witness this nation at its best.

The crew of Atlantis is ready to launch." After 135 launches over 30 years, the space shuttle will never streak into the sky again. [ Video: Last Launch Of Shuttle Atlantis ] Atlantis and its four-astronaut crew are headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station. The main goal of the shuttle's 12-day flight — Atlantis' 33rd mission after nearly 26 years of flying — is to deliver a year's worth of supplies and spare parts to the orbiting lab. But the world's attention is fixed more on what Atlantis' last mission means than on what it will accomplish in orbit. "For an entire generation who grew up with the space shuttle, this is a moment that won't be appreciated for some time to come," said space history expert Robert Pearlman, editor of collectSPACE.com and a SPACE.com contributor. "People have taken it for granted; I don't think its absence is going to be immediately felt." A skeleton crew Commander Chris Ferguson is leading a skeleton crew of four on Atlantis' STS-135 flight. He's joined by pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus.

Other shuttle missions over the years have typically carried six or seven spaceflyers, but NASA wanted to use every bit of available space to pack extra cargo on this last drop-off mission to the station. The astronauts will deliver about 9,500 pounds (4,318 kilograms) of cargo to the station. Atlantis is also delivering several different science experiments, one of which — the Robotic Refueling Mission — is an attempt to demonstrate a way to refuel satellites robotically on orbit. In addition, Atlantis is also carrying two iPhone 4 smartphones loaded with apps to help astronauts perform experiments in space. This represents the first time iPhones have ever gone to space . Atlantis will chase the station down for a while, finally docking with the $100 billion orbiting lab on Sunday (July 10). The shuttle is scheduled to return to Earth for the final time on July 20. Until Atlantis rolls to a stop on the runway, the astronauts plan to focus on the tasks they have to perform over the next 12 days, putting off meditations on their mission's historic significance as much as possible. "We're not going to dwell on it too much until after landing," Ferguson said before launch in a recent NASA video.

"Then we'll get a chance — hopefully following a great, successful mission — to kind of bask in the achievements of the program overall, and really reflect." [ NASA's Space Shuttle Program In Pictures: A Tribute ] The end of an era NASA's space shuttle program was born in January 1972, when President Richard Nixon announced its existence to the nation. Back in those days, the shuttle was billed as a breakthrough vehicle that could enable safe, frequent and relatively cheap access to space. "The shuttle era really was an effort to do a whole new kind of spaceflight," Valerie Neal, curator of human spaceflight at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., told SPACE.com. The shuttle program, she added, "held with it the promise of making space just a normal part of human endeavor." The first flight took place on April 12, 1981. Since then, the shuttle — the world's first and only reusable spacecraft — has become NASA's workhorse vehicle, with the five-shuttle fleet making 135 flights over three decades. Some of these flights have deployed or repaired important pieces of scientific hardware, such as the Hubble Space Telescope .

And many missions since 1998 have helped build the International Space Station, which is now nearly complete. In addition to these hardware accomplishments, shuttle missions have carried 355 different individuals from 16 different countries into low-Earth orbit, according to NASA officials. So the shuttle delivered on part of its promise, experts say, opening space up to many more people than had been possible previously and helping humanity develop its nascent capabilities in low-Earth orbit. But the space shuttle didn't turn out to be cheap or completely safe. NASA once estimated launches could cost as little as $20 million; they've turned out to run nearly $1.6 billion each. And two shuttle missions — Challenger's STS-51L flight in 1986 and Columbia's STS-107 mission in 2003 — ended in tragedy, killing a total of 14 astronauts. Ultimately, historians will likely debate the shuttle program's legacy for years to come. Retirement awaits When Atlantis touches down later this month, its flying days will be over. But the orbiter will still have to be prepped for one final mission: educating the public about spaceflight, and perhaps inspiring youngsters to become astronauts themselves someday.

Like the two other remaining shuttles — Endeavour and Discovery — Atlantis will become a museum showpiece. Atlantis won't have to go far; it will assume a place of pride in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex here. Discovery is headed for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, while Endeavour will make the trip west to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Without the space shuttles, NASA will rely on Russian Soyuz vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, which is slated to operate until at least 2020. The agency wants private American craft to take over this taxi service eventually, but that probably won't happen for at least four or five years. For its part, NASA has begun shifting its focus beyond low-Earth orbit. Last year, President Barack Obama charged the space agency with sending astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, and then on to Mars by the mid-2030s. As exciting as both of these exploration prospects are, they remain far off, both in space and time. Right now, most thoughts are with Atlantis as it streaks toward the space station, its final mission closing out the life of a spacecraft that came to represent a nation in many ways.

Over the years, the space shuttle became a symbol of America, its ambitious goals and its technological know-how, experts say. "The shuttle became a very powerful icon," Roger Launius, space history curator at the National Air and Space Museum, told SPACE.com, "just as serviceable an icon as the astronauts landing on the moon, in terms of national prestige abroad and pride at home." You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall . Visit SPACE.com for complete coverage of Atlantis' final mission STS-135 or follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .

Question: In July this year we saw the final Space Shuttle mission. Which shuttle was used for the voyage?
Answer: Atlantis