Washington: The last of NASA's retired spacecraft Atlantis slowly covered its historic last journey to its final resting place after the US space agency ended its 30-year shuttle program in 2011. The shuttle made its 15.8 kilometres journey on Friday from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, permanently to a visitor centre where it will be put for public display in a $100 million hall due to open in July.
Accompanied by astronauts and shuttle workers, the shuttle left the Space Centre for the final time at 6.30 am, aboard a 76-wheel apparatus, travelling over land at a speed of 3.2 kmph. "I think that the shuttle was a great book, it really was, and this little part is like the epilogue," commander of the last Atlantis mission Chris Ferguson said. "She's truly a testament to American ingenuity." the former astronaut said.
The vehicle will be displayed as if in flight, tilted at an angle of 43.21 degrees, with its payload bay open and robotic arm extended. Atlantis, the youngest of the shuttles, was the last of NASA's three surviving shuttles to retire when it completed its final flight on July 21, 2011.
Atlantis was launched to space 33 times, including 12 missions to the International Space Station, after it began its first mission on October 3, 1985, where it docked with the Russian space station Mir and spent four days in space delivering classified cargo. Atlantis has orbited Earth 4,848 times travelling 202,673,974 kilometres. The shuttle has
04:33 PM, Nov 03, 2012
Cape Canaveral: The space shuttle Atlantis returned from NASA's final shuttle mission on Thursday, ending a 30-year era that opened the space frontier, exposed its dangers and established a toehold for future endeavors beyond Earth. NASA workers lined the runway at the Kennedy Space Center before dawn to greet Atlantis and its crew upon their return from a successful 13-day cargo run to the International Space Station and to celebrate...
11:58 PM, Jul 21, 2011
Cape Canaveral: The shuttle Atlantis astronauts fired their spaceship's braking rockets to leave orbit on Thursday, aiming to conclude the final US space shuttle mission with a predawn landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle was targeted to land at its home base at 0957 GMT. Atlantis' return from the 135th shuttle mission caps a 30-year program that made spaceflight appear routine, despite two fatal accidents that...
02:38 PM, Jul 21, 2011
Cape Canaveral: US space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday to deliver a last batch of supplies to the orbiting outpost on the final flight of the US shuttle program. Commander Chris Ferguson gently eased Atlantis into its parking slip on the station's Harmony node at 11:07 am EDT (1507 GMT) as the spacecraft soared 230 miles (370 km) over the Pacific Ocean. "Welcome to the...
07:32 AM, Jul 11, 2011
Cape Canaveral: The space shuttle Atlantis hasn't performed like a ship ready for retirement. The first full day of the final flight of the aging space shuttle fleet - the most complicated machines ever built - was practically flawless. NASA officials say the unusually small four-person crew of Atlantis worked through lunch on Saturday and finished their tasks in near-record time. After Friday's launch they inspected the shuttle's heat shield...
08:04 AM, Jul 10, 2011
New Delhi: The United State's Space Shuttle programme ended on Friday with the launch of the last shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis will return to Earth two weeks later, to be mothballed forever. The 12-day mission will be run by a 4-person crew. This is the smallest crew of any shuttle mission since the 6th shuttle flight that began on April 4, 1983. Atlantis is carrying 15,000 pounds of clothing, food and...
09:00 PM, Jul 08, 2011
New Delhi: Thirty years and 134 missions later, the United State's Space Shuttle programme is being shut down. Atlantis is the last shuttle to go to space. After launch late on Friday night, it will return to Earth two weeks later, to be mothballed forever. US President Barack Obama has shut down the Space Shuttle programme, leaving 30,000 workers jobless. Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator said, "We are not ending human...
08:39 PM, Jul 08, 2011
Cape Canaveral: Countdown clocks at the Kennedy Space Center began ticking on Tuesday toward the final flight in the 30-year-old US space shuttle program, a cargo run to the International Space Station. Liftoff of shuttle Atlantis carrying astronauts is set for 11:26 am EDT (1526 GMT) on Friday, though meteorologists are concerned about the weather. An approaching front is expected to cloud central Florida's skies beginning on Thursday, stirring up...
01:31 AM, Jul 06, 2011
Cape Canaveral: The space shuttle Endeavour landed smoothly at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, completing the second-to-last mission of the US space shuttle program. Endeavour, which delivered a pioneering physics experiment to the International Space Station, touched down on the runway at 2:35 am EDT (0635 GMT). It is the second of US space agency NASA's three spaceships being retired this year. Sister ship Atlantis is scheduled...
01:23 PM, Jun 01, 2011
Cape Canaveral (Florida): The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday on its final voyage which will deliver a pioneering physics experiment to the International Space Station. Endeavour roared off the launch pad at 8:56 am EDT, carrying a six-member crew. The US space agency NASA plans just one more shuttle mission this summer with sister ship Atlantis before ending the 30-year-old shuttle programme....
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