Shuttle Atlantis - end of an era

[Bryancd]

They have had that cam for a few years now, including ones on the SRB's which follow them parachuting into the ocean. Speaking of cool, check this!

http://360vr.com/2011/06/22-discovery-flight-deck-opf_6236/index.html

[billybob476]

If you go to exactly 7:00 minutes in the booster video you get the SRB separation from the left aft camera. It looks like a really good CGI shot! Complete with JJ Abrams lens flare!

[X]

Yeah, the moon landing was fake! So was every mission into space before and after! We never put up satellites, that's just signals bounced off ham radios. The internet is also fake too. I'm not really talking to anyone, it's a fake program on my system that generates fake items based on the words that I type.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Yeah, the moon landing was fake! So was every mission into space before and after! We never put up satellites, that's just signals bounced off ham radios. The internet is also fake too. I'm not really talking to anyone, it's a fake program on my system that generates fake items based on the words that I type.

Fake fake fakey mcfake fake.  Your just a faker.  Fake.

;)

King

[billybob476]

I've never met any of you! You're al fakkkkkkke!!!! :D

[Poodyglitz]

They have had that cam for a few years now, including ones on the SRB's which follow them parachuting into the ocean. Speaking of cool, check this!

http://360vr.com/2011/06/22-discovery-flight-deck-opf_6236/index.html

Very cool. The instruments almost resemble those on NX-01. :-)

[billybob476]

I like the Dell laptop off to the side.

[WillEagle]

Bryancd thanks for the link. That was cool. And I dont think those seats looked very comfortable.

[QuadShot]

Yeah, the moon landing was fake! So was every mission into space before and after! We never put up satellites, that's just signals bounced off ham radios. The internet is also fake too. I'm not really talking to anyone, it's a fake program on my system that generates fake items based on the words that I type.

How very Matrix of you X...or are you REALLY X???? :)

[QuadShot]

Yeah, the moon landing was fake! So was every mission into space before and after! We never put up satellites, that's just signals bounced off ham radios. The internet is also fake too. I'm not really talking to anyone, it's a fake program on my system that generates fake items based on the words that I type.

I for one KNOW the moon landing was real. The little moon-men told me it was real. And I read it on Wikipedia and EVERYONE KNOWS Wikipedia is real! :)

[Rico]

The Shuttle Atlantis is now undocked from the ISS and on her way back home.

Early this morning, the space shuttle Atlantis separated from the International Space Station for the last time, beginning its two-day journey back to Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
After eight days, 15 hours, and 21 minutes, the shuttle undocked from the ISS at 2:28am Eastern time while it was 243 miles above the Pacific, east of Christchurch, New Zealand. At 4:18am, Atlantis fired its jets and formally separated from the space station.
Before starting their journey home, Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus snapped photos of the ISS from 600 feet above the station, capturing angles the shuttle never has seen before during a fly-around, NASA said.

The crew then started an inspection the shuttle's thermal protection system shortly after 6am. Crew members used the 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom Sensor System to conduct a 3D scan of areas of the wing leading edges and nose cap, which experience the highest heating during entry. Mission control officials will review that heat shield data in the coming days to make sure everything is operational.
In all, NASA has completed 37 missions devoted to assembling and maintaining the space station for a total of 276 days, 11 hours and 23 minutes, or almost 40 weeks.
Yesterday, the Atlantis crew successfully packed up the vehicle's cargo bay, depositing the 21-foot long Raffaello storage bin back on Atlantis. It arrived at the ISS stuffed with 9,403 pounds of spare parts, equipment, and other supplies—including 2,677 pounds of food that will sustain the ISS crew in the coming year. It departs with 5,700 pounds of supplies, including faulty parts, and a good amount of trash that had accumulated on the ISS.
Atlantis is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 5:56am Eastern time on Thursday. The night before, New York City's Empire State Building will be lit up in red, white, and blue in honor of NASA's space shuttle program.
For more on NASA's shuttle program, see the slideshow above.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388681,00.asp

[Poodyglitz]

The Shuttle Atlantis is now undocked from the ISS and on her way back home.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388681,00.asp

Bittersweet. Proud that we produced something as cool as the shuttle program. Sad that it's ended.

[billybob476]

Interesting article on what the NASA staff related to the shuttle program will be facing in therms of thier jobs:

With the space shuttle Atlantis completes its last mission this week, the 30-year space shuttle program officially comes to an end. Like the other retired shuttles, Atlantis will be shipped off to a museum, leaving NASA without any vehicles for human spaceflight.

When that happens, what will all the employees involved in the program — from astronauts to flight controllers and technicians — do?

For some of them, post-shuttle NASA will mean business as usual. Others will shift their focus toward developing future missions and vehicles. Thousands of employees expect to be laid off

http://www.space.com/12378-nasa-space-shuttle-program-workforce.html

[Poodyglitz]

Interesting article on what the NASA staff related to the shuttle program will be facing in therms of thier jobs:

With the space shuttle Atlantis completes its last mission this week, the 30-year space shuttle program officially comes to an end. Like the other retired shuttles, Atlantis will be shipped off to a museum, leaving NASA without any vehicles for human spaceflight.

When that happens, what will all the employees involved in the program — from astronauts to flight controllers and technicians — do?

For some of them, post-shuttle NASA will mean business as usual. Others will shift their focus toward developing future missions and vehicles. Thousands of employees expect to be laid off

Reminiscent of circa 1970 when along with a bunch of aerospace engineers in L.A., my father was laid off.

[Vartok]

Really nice set of STS-135 photos from early VAB shots through launch, and in space.  What makes this series so different are the very unusual angles and non-typical shots, including around the outside of the ISS while spacewalking.  See link below.  Also see the father-son shot taken at the first and recreated for the last launches.  Touching.

V


http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/07/welcome-home-atlantis/100111/