Keith’s note: President Obama will host the crew of STS-135 on Tuesday at 12:20 pm EDT in the Oval Office.
Photo: One Last Visit To The Cupola “Backlit by Earth’s “day time” light, NASA astronaut Sandy Magnus, STS-135 mission specialist, gets one last visit to the Cupola onboard the International Space Station. on July 18, 2011.”
Wheels Stop – As Atlantis Lands the Shuttle Era Comes to an End, SpaceRef “At 5:57:54 a.m EDT the orbiter Atlantis came to a wheels stop at the Kennedy Space Center runway 15 marking the end of the Space Shuttle era.” NASA Administrator Commemorates Final Space Shuttle Landing, NASA “At today’s final landing of the space shuttle, we had the rare opportunity to witness history. We turned the page on […]
Transcript of President Obama’s Call to the International Space Station (with video) “President Obama: Well, this mission marks the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program and also ushers in an exciting new era, to push the frontiers of space exploration and human spaceflight. You guys will continue to operate, or crew members like you will continue to operate the ISS in coming years, and seek to use it to […]
Joint Shuttle/ISS Crew Press Conference “The 10 crew members aboard space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station will hold a news conference at 8:24 a.m. CDT on Friday, July 15. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the 40-minute news conference.” A Short Chat With Someone Offworld “If there is one thing I’d say [to policymakers] it is that we need to focus our efforts. I’d appeal to Congress […]
Photo: Celebrating the Last Shuttle Launch with Food – NASA Style According to [email protected]: “The LCS SE&I group celebrated the launch of STS-135 with homemade Italian bread and cold cuts!! Checkout this work of art!!”
NASA Invites Public To “Virtual Dinner” With Final Shuttle Crew “The crew’s All American menu begins with crackers, brie cheese and sausage.” Keith’s note: Brie cheese? Wikipedia says: “Brie is a soft cow cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern dpartement of Seine-et-Marne).” Gee, that doesn’t sound “all-American” to me. Duh – why not serve “American cheese”? Wikipedia says: “American cheese […]
This photo shows Space Shuttle Atlantis punching a hole in the sky on its way to orbit. The image was taken on 8 July 2011 from a high altitude balloon flown by students and volunteers at Quest For Stars. Larger image here. Additional photos from STS-135 and earlier shuttle missions can be found here.
Leaping Above The Sky One Last Time “After a heart-stopping pause at T-31 seconds, Space Shuttle Atlantis left Earth and leapt above the sky this morning. This is the last time a space shuttle will ever do this – and everyone in attendance at the launch site knew it. Up until a short time before launch gloomy weather forecasts had left a sense of doubt among all who gathered here […]