The Space Shuttle Program has come to an End

Today the Space Shuttle Atlantis landed and with that comes the end of the shuttle program. Next stop, I imagine, for the shuttles will be a museum for public viewing.

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Shuttle Atlantis Has Left The Building

The crew of the space shuttle has packed up and left the ISS for the last time. They are preparing to return to Earth this Thursday for the last and final landing of the shuttle and marks the end of the space shuttle program.

Space.com has a detailed account of the activities of the crew as they prepare to return home.

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Space Shuttle Atlantis Visible this Weekend

The Space Shuttle Atlantis will be visible in the early evening sky over the weekend. Remember, this is the last year of the manned space shuttle program by NASA, so try to take advantage of any opportunity to see the shuttle in action:

Skywatchers across the continental United States will get a fine opportunity this weekend to watch as the space shuttle Atlantis — on its final scheduled mission into space — chases and ultimately docks with the International Space Station (ISS).

Both the shuttle and space station will be visible as separate entities, each appearing as bright "stars" sailing across the evening twilight sky on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday evening, Atlantis will be docked to the ISS, and both will appear as a single bright moving "star."

During Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, both Atlantis and the ISS will make a number of favorable passes across the contiguous U.S. Their respective ground tracks will take them on northwest-to-southeast paths. With a very few exceptions, between one and four crossings of both the shuttle and the ISS will be visible.

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Oil Spill in the U.S. Gulf Coast Affects NASA

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of an oil rig is harming fragile animal, plant, and sea life in what was a beautiful area of water. I have personally visited the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico and I have swum and snorkeled around coral and beautiful fish and it breaks my heart to think of all the destruction this continued leak of oil is causing.
I did not realize it also affects NASA:

The expanding oil slick has cut into the deep water route typically used by NASA barges and their tugs to haul the 15-storey space shuttle fuel tanks from their manufacturing site – the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans – to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to be attached to an orbiter for launch.

Space shuttle fuel tanks are built by Lockheed Martin and are too large to be delivered by train or truck. When fully fueled at the launch pad, they weigh about 1.7 million pounds (771,000 kg), counting the 535,000 gallons of cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant.

I am sure other commerce has been disrupted and I cannot understand how this tragedy occured but I hope they end the gush of oil that is filling the water every moment.

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Worf on the ISS!!

I love it, Worf will be on the Space Station:

Amongst the items delivered by the Discovery space shuttle to the International Space Station earlier today, was a patch with a Star Trek connection.The acronym for the NASA patch for the Window Observational Research Facility, a science equipment rack that will enable astronaut-tended and remote-controlled Earth-observation experiments, is the same as the name of Lt. Commander Worf, the Klingon seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Read More HERE.

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Spring Cleaning at NASA

Since this year is the last year of the space shuttle program, they seem to be going into all the nooks and crannies and cleaning out stuff and deciding who will get what. From the article:

You may get a chance to see the container that holds their, well, you know, astro poop.With the shuttle fleet scheduled to retire later this year, NASA is cleaning out warehouses and storage rooms and offering space artifacts to certain organizations such as schools and universities, museums and libraries.

I doubt I want to see the potty the astronauts used, thank you very much! I find what the astronauts do interesting but not in such detail!

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex was tentatively allocated 119 items, although officials don't know exactly what all of the items are. The artifacts won't be delivered until the shuttle program ends or as the items are phased out of production.

You can read the rest of the Article HERE and I am sure more news will pop up this entire year since the space program is sadly ending.

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Space Shuttle Endeavour May Land in California

Californians may get the chance to hear the famous double sonic boom if the space shuttle needs to land in California tonight. From the article:

NASA says it might be forced to land the space shuttle Endeavour at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert on Sunday night due to sketchy weather at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. If that happens, it is possible that people in Orange County will hear the double sonic boom the shuttle makes minutes before it lands. Whether we hear the boom depends on the shuttle’s final flight path. If it reaches the California coast in the Santa Barbara area, we probably wouldn’t hear it. But if it tacks farther south, there’s a good chance we would.

NASA would prefer to land Endeavour in Florida. If the weather clears, the shuttle, which is carrying a crew of six, will touch down in Florida at 10:16 .m. or 11:51 p.m., eastern time, Sunday. If the shuttle comes here, says NASA, it would land at Edwards at either 10:20 p.m. or 11:55 p.m., Pacific time, Sunday. Check back for updates.

12 chances to see International Space Station fly over Southern California

Here is a link to the story and I love hearing that special sonic boom!

Classic Star Trek Crew Photo

I found a great story about the Star Trek crew taking a photo with Gene Roddenberry and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. From the article:

Thirty-three years ago today, the U.S.S. Enterprise made its maiden voyage after receiving its blessing from the original Star Trek crew.No, not that Enterprise. We're talking about the first space shuttle orbiter, which was named after the most famous ship in Starfleet and which made its first flight test on Feb. 18, 1977, mounted to a Boeing 747, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel.Here's part of the Sentinel's story:

NASA's first step into the Space Shuttle program was an orbiter named Enterprise, which served as a model for future orbiters Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. (Though they are often referred to as "space shuttles," an orbiter must be mated to a bright orange external tank and two skinny solid rocket boosters to merit the name.)
I love memories like these, to me, it seems like yesterday the shuttle took off. I guess we will have a lot more memories and old photos to look at throughout this year due to the fact that the space shuttle program ends this year, thus ending the manned space program for NASA..
You can read the entire story HERE:

Space Shuttle for Sale!

You can own a genuine space shuttle from NASA for the low price of 28.8 M USD which is considered a recession special because the price was lowered from 42 million apiece.

From the article:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Here’s a recession bargain: the space shuttle. NASA has slashed the price of these 1970s era spaceships from $42 million to $28.8 million apiece.The shuttles are for sale once they quit flying, supposedly this fall.When NASA put out the call to museums, schools and others in December 2008, seeking buyers, about 20 expressed interest. NASA spokesman Mike Curie expects more interest, what with the discount.“We’re confident that we’ll get other takers,” Curie said Friday.

As for the space shuttle main engines, those are now free. NASA advertised them for $400,000 to $800,000 each in December 2008, but no one expressed interest. So now the engines are available, along with other shuttle artifacts, for the cost of transportation and handling.Assembly will be required, however.

Well, I cannot wait to see a new design for the next generation of space craft that will travel to the International Space Station. I hope the "recession/depression" and/or too many wars do not delay development of what I consider more important endeavors and that is the study of our Universe.

Here is a LINK to the article.