"alone. ""Discovery"" flew all three ""return to flight"" missions after the ""Challenger"" and ""Columbia"" disasters: STS-26 in 1988, STS-114 in 2005, and STS-121 in 2006. ""Discovery"" flew the ante-penultimate mission of the Space Shuttle program, STS-133, having launched on February 24, 2011. ""Endeavour"" flew STS-134 and ""Atlantis"" performed STS-135, NASA's last Space Shuttle mission. On February 24, 2011, Space Shuttle ""Discovery"" launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-A to begin its final orbital flight. The Flow Director was responsible for the overall preparation of the shuttle for launch and processing it after landing, and remained permanently assigned to head"
"of ""Atlantis""s final flight on July 21, 2011. The U.S. has since relied primarily on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable human spaceflight vehicle capable of reaching low Earth orbit, commissioned and operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1981 to 2011. It resulted from shuttle design studies conducted by NASA and the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s and was first proposed for development as part of an ambitious second-generation Space Transportation System (STS) of space vehicles to follow the Apollo program"
"on 21 June 2011 to resupply and deliver equipment to the International Space Station. Progress M-11M transferred more than 2.5 tons of cargo to the Space Station, including food, water, scientific hardware, propellant, and cargo. The cargo ship docked with the Zvezda service module of the Space Station at 16:37 UTC on 23 June 2011. The docking occurred 245 miles above eastern Kazakhstan. On 8 July 2011, Space Shuttle ""Atlantis"" launched on the STS-135 mission, the final mission in NASA's Space Shuttle program. ""Atlantis"" docked to the ISS on 10 July 2011 at 15:07 UTC. The mission was crewed by"
"changes before it could be completed, the retirement of the Space Shuttle was delayed several times until 2011, serving at least 15 years longer than originally planned. ""Discovery"" was the first of NASA's three remaining operational Space Shuttles to be retired. The final Space Shuttle mission was originally scheduled for late 2010, but the program was later extended to July 2011 when Michael Suffredini of the ISS program said that one additional trip was needed in 2011 to deliver parts to the International Space Station. The Shuttle's final mission consisted of just four astronauts—Christopher Ferguson (Commander), Douglas Hurley (Pilot), Sandra"
"out of 28 flights have not been to the ISS, and only the planned Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission in 2009 will not be ISS-related out of 13 planned missions until the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2010). The Space Shuttle was retired from service upon the conclusion of Atlantis' final flight on July 21, 2011. NASA was reliant even at the time on some of the resupply contracts being fielded out to Soyuz and Progress and the other unmanned tugs, but it had launched a few years earlier into a program of aggressive development of commercial US"
"funding was found and a decision was taken to fly STS-135 as the final Space Shuttle mission, with Atlantis as the orbiter. The STS-135 mission launched in July 2011, just over a year after Atlantis's launch on the STS-132 mission. The crew members aboard ""Atlantis"" began their first full day in space at 08:20 UTC. The day was primarily devoted to inspecting ""Atlantis's"" thermal protection system, using the shuttle's robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) to look for any signs of launch damage. Before the thermal protection checkout began, the crew encountered a problem with the Laser"
"Shuttle ""Columbia"" disaster. The Shuttle fleet lost two orbiters and 14 astronauts in two disasters: ""Challenger"" in 1986, and ""Columbia"" in 2003. While the 1986 loss was mitigated by building the Space Shuttle ""Endeavour"" from replacement parts, NASA did not build another orbiter to replace the second loss. NASA's Space Shuttle program had 135 missions when the program ended with the successful landing of the Space Shuttle ""Atlantis"" at the Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011. The program spanned 30 years with over 300 astronauts sent into space. The International Space Station (ISS) combines NASA's ""Space Station Freedom"" project"
"supported the final manifested shuttle flights, starting with STS-117 in June 2007 until the retirement of the shuttle fleet in July 2011. Prior to the SpaceX lease agreement, the pad remained as it was when Atlantis launched on the final shuttle mission on July 8, 2011, complete with a mobile launcher platform. In 1997 the pad was the proposed as the site of the first machine for the film Contact. Talks for use of the pad were underway between NASA and Space Florida—the State of Florida's economic development agency—as early as 2011, but no deal materialized by 2012 and NASA"
"of the retirement of the Space Shuttle following the STS-135 mission in July 2011—and the resultant loss of the Space Shuttle's ability to return payload mass—an increasing concern became returning downmass cargo from low-Earth orbit to Earth for subsequent use or analysis. During this period of time, of the four space vehicles capable of reaching and delivering cargo to the International Space Station, only the Russian Soyuz vehicle could return even a very small cargo payload to Earth. The Soyuz cargo downmass capability was limited as the entire space capsule was filled to capacity with the three ISS crew members"
"final mission, STS-134. During this mission, the crew of ""Endeavour"" installed on the station's exterior the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and several spare parts to aid in station operations after the retirement of the Space Shuttle. STS-134 was the 36th Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. ""Endeavour"" and her crew, consisting of Mark Kelly, Gregory Johnson, Michael Fincke, Roberto Vittori, Andrew Feustel, and Gregory Chamitoff, returned to Earth on 1 June 2011, at 6:34 UTC. STS-134 was the second-to-last mission of the Space Shuttle. The remainder of the Expedition 28 crew (Sergey Volkov, Michael E. Fossum, and Satoshi Furukawa)"
"journey, the shuttle was secured on the launch pad at 03:29 EDT on 1 June 2011. Large crowds, including the families of NASA's workforce, were present during the rollout. The STS-135 crew was also at the Kennedy Space Center to witness the last-ever rollout of a Space Shuttle. The crew participated in an informal Question & Answer session with news media, which was aired live on NASA TV. While ""Atlantis"" was rolled out to the launch pad, ""Endeavour"" was landing a few miles away at the Shuttle Landing Facility, touching down on Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15 at 02:34 EDT"
"contingency mission program that could launch a rescue orbiter on short notice, similar to the Skylab Rescue that was planned during the Skylab program. NASA retired the Space Shuttle fleet on July 21, 2011 after completing the ISS and the final flight and subsequent landing of ""Atlantis"". The Shuttle's replacement, Orion, was to have consisted of an Apollo-derived spacecraft launched on the Ares I rocket, which would use a Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster as its first stage. Orion would not face the dangers of either an O-ring failure (due to the presence of a launch escape system) or shedding"
"Soyuz and three Space Shuttle missions – were launched in 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts and cosmonauts into orbit. At the beginning of the year, the Expedition 26 crew was aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The first manned flight of 2011 was STS-133, the final flight of the Space Shuttle , which launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 24 February. STS-133 carried ""Leonardo"", the final American pressurised module of the ISS, for installation. ""Discovery"" returned to Earth on 9 March. On 16 March, Expedition 27 began aboard the ISS with the departure of the Soyuz TMA-01M"
"launched on September 29, 1988. The longest Shuttle mission was STS-80 lasting 17 days, 15 hours. The final flight of the Space Shuttle program was STS-135 on July 8, 2011. Since the Shuttle's retirement in 2011, many of its original duties are performed by an assortment of government and private vessels. The European ATV Automated Transfer Vehicle supplied the ISS between 2008 and 2015. Classified military missions are being flown by the US Air Force's unmanned space plane, the X-37B. By 2012, cargo to the International Space Station was already being delivered commercially under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services by SpaceX's"
"on the band's last studio album, ""The Story"", ends with a recording of her voice introducing the song. Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle ""Columbia"" (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first space-rated orbiter in NASA's Space Shuttle fleet. It launched for the first time on mission STS-1 on April 12, 1981, the first flight of the Space Shuttle program. Over 22 years of service, it completed 27 missions before disintegrating during re-entry near the end of its 28th mission, STS-107 on February 1, 2003, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members. Construction began on ""Columbia"" in 1975 at"
"on 22 November. The final manned launch of the year took place on 21 December, when Soyuz TMA-03M was launched to bring a further three crewmembers to the ISS. Ten spacewalks were conducted in 2011, all of them by ISS or Space Shuttle astronauts. The final spacewalk by a Space Shuttle crew was conducted on 27 May, during the STS-134 mission. Numerous scientific exploration missions were begun in 2011. In March 2011, the ""MESSENGER"" probe became the first artificial satellite of the planet Mercury. In July, the ""Dawn"" spacecraft became the first artificial satellite of the asteroid 4 Vesta. The"
"STS-135 STS-135 (ISS assembly flight ULF7) was the 135th and final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It used the orbiter ""Atlantis"" and hardware originally processed for the STS-335 contingency mission, which was not flown. STS-135 launched on 8 July 2011, and landed on 21 July 2011, following a one-day mission extension. The four-person crew was the smallest of any shuttle mission since STS-6 in April 1983. The mission's primary cargo was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) ""Raffaello"" and a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier (LMC), which were delivered to the International Space Station (ISS). The flight of ""Raffaello"" marked the"
"years until the STS-114 launch on July 26, 2005. The shuttle program experienced five main engine shutdowns at LC-39, all within four seconds before launch; and one abort to orbit, STS-51-F on July 29, 1985. Shuttle missions during nearly 30 years of operations included deploying satellites and interplanetary probes, conducting space science and technology experiments, visits to the Russian MIR space station, construction and servicing of the International Space Station, deployment and servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope and serving as a space laboratory. The shuttle was retired from service in July 2011 after 135 launches. On October 28, 2009,"
"Space Shuttle Discovery Space Shuttle ""Discovery"" (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, gathering more spaceflights than any other spacecraft to date. ""Discovery"" became the third operational orbiter to enter service, preceded by ""Columbia"" and ""Challenger"". It embarked on its last mission, STS-133, on February 24, 2011 and touched down for the final time at Kennedy Space Center on"
"of the mission, ""Discovery""<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crew carried out further deorbit preparations, and closed the shuttle's payload bay doors. A successful deorbit burn and re-entry ended with ""Discovery"" landing at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility for the final time on 9 March 2011 at 11:58:14 EST. The shuttle was retired at wheel-stop. Two spacewalks (EVAs) were conducted during the mission. NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special"
"first space shuttle to land at night at the SLF. A total of 78 shuttle missions landed at the SLF. The final landing of a space shuttle occurred on July 21, 2011 by ""Atlantis"" for STS-135. ""Discovery"" and ""Endeavour"" took off from the SLF on top of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for museums in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. In 2012, NASA's Johnson Space Center's Project Morpheus's first vehicle arrived at KSC. Prior to arrival at KSC and throughout the project, Morpheus vehicle tests were performed at other NASA centers; KSC was the site for advanced testing. Multiple tests, including"
"Space Shuttle program The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official name, Space Transportation System (STS), was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The Space Shuttle—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank—carried up to eight astronauts and up to of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its"
"Shuttle fleet operated from April 1981 until July 2011. SpaceShipOne has conducted two human suborbital spaceflights. On a sub-orbital spaceflight the spacecraft reaches space and then returns to the atmosphere after following a (primarily) ballistic trajectory. This is usually because of insufficient specific orbital energy, in which case a suborbital flight will last only a few minutes, but it is also possible for an object with enough energy for an orbit to have a trajectory that intersects the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes after many hours. Pioneer 1 was NASA's first space probe intended to reach the Moon. A partial failure caused"
"Stott was the last ISS expedition crew member to fly on the Space Shuttle. She returned to Earth aboard STS-129 in November 2009. Expedition 21 Expedition 21 was the 21st long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began on 30 October 2009, with Frank de Winne becoming the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission. The handover between Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 required three Soyuz vehicles being docked to the station at the same time, the first time this has occurred. Soyuz TMA-16 brought the final members of Expedition 21 to the ISS, along with"
"released from stand-by status on Thursday, 21 May. STS-125 STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The launch of the Space Shuttle ""Atlantis"" occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT. Landing occurred on 24 May at 11:39 am EDT, with the mission lasting a total of just under 13 days. The crew of STS-125 included three astronauts who had previous experience servicing Hubble. Scott Altman visited Hubble in 2002 as commander of STS-109, the fourth Hubble servicing mission. John Grunsfeld, an astronomer,"
"on the shuttle were closed at 10:48 p.m. EDT. At 1:29 a.m. on 1 June, the de-orbit burn was initiated, finishing at 1:31 a.m. The shuttle began reentering the atmosphere at approximately 2:03 a.m. At 2:25 a.m., ""Endeavour"" crossed the Florida coast. The shuttle landed safely in Florida at around 2:35 a.m. EDT, completing its 25th and final mission into space. There were four spacewalks (EVAs) completed by three astronauts during the flight. The total time spent outside was 28 hours and 44 minutes. The EVAs are expected to be the final EVAs conducted by a shuttle crew. NASA began"
"Expedition 27 Expedition 27 was the 27th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), starting on 16 March 2011. Expedition 27 saw numerous notable events, including the undocking of the Progress M-09M and Kounotori 2 spacecraft, the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-21 and Progress M-10M spacecraft, and the final rendezvous with the ISS of NASA's Space Shuttle ""Endeavour, on its last mission, STS-134. The expedition ended on 23 May 2011 with the departure of the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft, although command of the station was ceremonially handed over to the crew of Expedition 28 on 22 May. After an extended"
"NASA astronauts Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Sandra Magnus, and Rex Walheim, and departed from the ISS on 19 July 2011. The purpose of the mission was to deliver the ""Raffaello"" MPLM, stocked with supplies, to the space station. The Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft departed from the International Space Station on 16 September 2011 at 00:38 UTC. Soyuz Commander Aleksandr Samokutyayev and Flight Engineers Andrei Borisenko and Ronald Garan returned to Earth on 16 September at 03:59 UTC, landing safely in central Kazakhstan. Their landing marked the beginning of Expedition 29. Expedition 28 Expedition 28 was the 28th long-duration expedition to the"
"PSSC-2 PSSC-2, or Pico-Satellite Solar Cell Testbed 2, also known as PSSC-Testbed 2, is a miniaturised satellite which will be operated by the United States Air Force as part of a technology demonstration programme. It was the last satellite to be deployed from a Space Shuttle. PSSC-2 was launched aboard on its final mission, STS-135. The launch took place from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, at 15:29 UTC on 8 July 2011. PSSC-2, along with a deployment mechanism, was carried to orbit in the payload bay of the Shuttle, attached to the right wall behind the Orbiter"
"STS-125 STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The launch of the Space Shuttle ""Atlantis"" occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT. Landing occurred on 24 May at 11:39 am EDT, with the mission lasting a total of just under 13 days. The crew of STS-125 included three astronauts who had previous experience servicing Hubble. Scott Altman visited Hubble in 2002 as commander of STS-109, the fourth Hubble servicing mission. John Grunsfeld, an astronomer, has serviced Hubble twice, performing a total of"
"Space Shuttle ""Discovery"" flight STS-116. Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov arrived the station on 9 April 2007 aboard Soyuz TMA-10. On 26 April 2007, NASA announced that Williams would return to Earth on STS-117, flown by Space Shuttle ""Atlantis"", instead of STS-118 as originally planned. Williams was replaced by Clayton Anderson, who arrived at the station aboard ""Atlantis"", which docked on 10 June 2007. Expedition 15 ended officially after Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson arrived at the station aboard Soyuz TMA-11, and the official change of command ceremony took place on 19 October 2007. On 21 October 2007, after"
"to turn it into the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) and was permanently attached to the ISS during the STS-133 mission in March 2011. The ""Raffaello"" module in July 2011 was the last ever payload of a NASA Space Shuttle. It returned with the Shuttle and was stored at the Kennedy Space Center. The ""Donatello"" module never launched. There were 37 Space Shuttle missions to the ISS. MPLMs were flown twelve times, with SPACEHAB modules flown nine times to ISS, and 25 Shuttle missions delivering construction elements, in various combinations. An MPLM is a large cylinder equipped with a common berthing"
"the capsule was released. The maneuver corrected the spacecraft direction to avoid entering the atmosphere. Under twenty kilograms of propellant remained onboard after the maneuver. On 29 January 2004, the spacecraft was put in hibernation mode with only the solar panels and receiver active, in a 3-year heliocentric orbit that would return it to Earth vicinity on 14 January 2009. A subsequent mission extension was approved on 3 July 2007, to bring the spacecraft back to full operation for a flyby of comet Tempel 1 in 2011. The mission extension was the first to revisit a small Solar System body"