Some of these flights have deployed or repaired important pieces of scientific hardware, such as the Hubble Space Telescope. Since then, the shuttle - the world's first and only reusable crewed spacecraft - has become NASA's workhorse vehicle, with the five-shuttle fleet making 135 flights over three decades. The first flight took place on April 12, 1981. The shuttle program, she added, 'held with it the promise of making space just a normal part of human endeavor.' '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. Back in those days, the shuttle was billed as a breakthrough vehicle that could enable safe, frequent and relatively cheap access to space. NASA's space shuttle program was born in January 1972, when President Richard Nixon announced its existence to the nation. NASA's space shuttle program in pictures: A tribute The end of an era '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.'

'We're not going to dwell on it too much until after landing,' Ferguson said before launch in a recent NASA video. 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. The shuttle is scheduled to return to Earth for the final time on July 20. This represents the first time iPhones have ever gone to space.Ītlantis will chase the station down for a while, finally docking with the $100 billion orbiting lab on Sunday (July 10). In addition, Atlantis is also carrying two iPhone 4 smartphones loaded with apps to help astronauts perform experiments in space. 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. The astronauts will deliver about 9,500 pounds (4,318 kilograms) of cargo to the station. 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. He's joined by pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus.

'People have taken it for granted I don't think its absence is going to be immediately felt.' A skeleton crewĬommander Chris Ferguson is leading a skeleton crew of four on Atlantis' STS-135 flight. '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 and a contributor. 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.īut the world's attention is fixed more on what Atlantis' last mission means than on what it will accomplish in orbit. The crew of Atlantis is ready to launch.'Īfter 135 launches over 30 years, the space shuttle will never streak into the sky again.Ītlantis and its four-astronaut crew are headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station. 'Let's light this shuttle one more time Mike and witness this nation at its best. We're not ending the journey today, we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end,' Atlantis' commander Chris Ferguson replied. 'And so for the final time, Fergie, Doug, Sandy and Rex, good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there.' '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.

Final space shuttle