STS-135 - The Final Space Shuttle Mission

The pump module is finally secured at the back of the Atlantis payload bay:


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2 hours and 20 minutes in the work continues.
 
It still goes on with some troubleshooting on the robotic arm operating base in the Russian segment:

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Nearly done five hours and one more task to go.
 
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Returning to airlock:

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Hatch closed:

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Job done, the last shuttle era spacewalk lasted 6 hours 31 minutes.
 
Cool pics. What lucky humans to look down on our planet like that.

We are witnessing the baby-steps our species is taking towards the stars.

So sad that we wont be around when they build the mega-ships to go to the outer planets! :( ..and eventually beyond. What incredible times there are in store for people several million generations from now.

But we are witnessing the birth of it all :) And Im convinced we will see a Mars mission in our time...

Thanks to the Shuttle for all its done and lets not forget those who died doing their jobs in this machine. Let the ISS be their monument.
 
slylittlefox said:
Apologies if this has been asked before: why are they moving away from reusable craft back into rockets with the likes of the Ares?
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Partially because the Shuttle is a low orbit craft, and is too heavy/incapable of carrying enough fuel to go any further. There is a case to be made for using the Shuttle as a launch vehicle for other craft that can go further - in fact, i believe you could fit an Apollo Command or Service module in the payload bay, never mind new designs that could be used.

Ultimately we see wars as more important than space exploration and as such NASA doesn't have nearly enough money to both run the Shuttle and design and build a new craft.
 
The shuttle could be adapted to go further easily (comparatively) enough - there's a bloomin' great cargo bay for starters. :)

The problem however is re-entry. We've seen how fragile the shuttle is and what happens when that fragile skin breaks. Re-entry velocity from LEO is about 7.8km/s, whereas from lunar return trajectory it is at least 11km/s. That represents a higher heat load which the shuttle TPS just can't handle, unlike the Apollo-era ablative.

As the distance increases, so the velocity increases as well (orbital mechanics).

Also, the thing is just too damn complex. Can you imagine a team of six astronauts servicing a shuttle for a return trip from Mars? :D
 
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Berserker said:
The shuttle could go further easily enough - there's a bloomin' great cargo bay for starters. :)

The problem however is re-entry. We've seen how fragile the shuttle is and what happens when that fragile skin breaks. Re-entry velocity from LEO is about 7.8km/s, whereas from lunar return trajectory it is at least 11km/s. That represents a higher heat load which the shuttle TPS just can't handle, unlike the Apollo-era ablative TPS.
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I read that theoretically the Shuttle could 'just' get to the moon, but when it's there it's pretty much done for. No way to land, no way to take off, no way to return.

Also - that's something i've often wondered about return velocities - what's to stop you from doing a close flyby of the Earth into some kind of orbit and then doing re-entry from that?

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Red line is conventional re-entry, yellow is what i'm asking.
 
You would need to lose speed to enter orbit or you would fly stright past into space, that means more fuel.
 
And if you lost speed then there would be little need to enter orbit in the first place, got it. Still, you wouldn't necessarily have to use fuel - depends where you're coming from in relation to the sun. Could use solar sails to create 'drag'.
 
Supplies and equipment in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module:

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Yesterday’s highlights:

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The plan for today is:

Flight Day 6

• If required, focused inspection of Atlantis’ thermal protection system heat shield with the OBSS
• Cargo transfer from Raffaello and Atlantis’ middeck to ISS
 
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Yesterday's recap:

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The plan for today is:

Flight Day 7

• Cargo transfer from Raffaello to ISS
• Crew off-duty time​

The wake up call this morning at 06:29 BST (01:29 EDT) was "Man on the Moon” by Michael Stipe of R.E.M:

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And... WMG have disabled the audio. ****, record labels really do have no souls.

Anyway, booster camera videos are now up - we might get an Ascent Imagery Highlights video soon :D
 
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