STS-135 - The Final Space Shuttle Mission

Preparations for launch are progressing. The crew arrived yesterday to have their final training and launch rehearsal. The payload including the Rafaello module have now been loaded aboard Atlantis. Work continues with scanning the external tank for defects. The flight readiness review will take place next Tuesday.
 
Fantastic pictures and such a shame there's nothing remotely ready to replace it.

I hope the skylon engine tests go well next year, then they just need to find the $10 billion for future r&d and the build.
 
Which is why it's highly unlikely that we'll ever see more of it than the animations on their website. If only it's spiritual predecessor had been allowed to continue, doubtless we would be seeing it's fruits about now. This is about the limit of our contribution to space exploration, way back when we were a nation that actually made things:

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PermaBanned said:
It won't be a wonderful, magical thing that can send shivers down your spine anymore, it will just be yet another industry, another resource waiting to be exploited.
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You've summed it up incredibly well. There was always something magical about NASA - just a mention of the acronym was enough to get me excited while a kid growing up.
Now like everything else, money is the driver - value add. Science, understanding and the progression of humanity are no longer good enough reasons. Money which could have been used is more likely to fund wars instead.

Watching the Shuttle from first flight right up to the last has been a privilege.

I quote a BBC reporter:
"As the astronauts arrive to prepare for one last mission, it's a bittersweet moment for residents on Florida's Space Coast: On 8 July they, like many across the world, will be celebrating the achievements of a much loved friend.

But they will be left wondering whether the best years of human space travel now lie now the past"

I hope he's wrong in his closing words.
 
Didn't get to watch a launch but I was in the 'family' section by the runway to watch the landing of Discovery on the first mission post-Columbia - was pretty tense needless to say but lots of cheering when it landed ok - the Shuttle is such a cool craft :cool: and it comes in hella fast! :D
 
Rich_L said:
Didn't get to watch a launch but I was in the 'family' section by the runway to watch the landing of Discovery on the first mission post-Columbia - was pretty tense needless to say but lots of cheering when it landed ok - the Shuttle is such a cool craft :cool: and it comes in hella fast! :D
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Does it make any sound when it comes into land?
 
Domo said:
Does it make any sound when it comes into land?
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Apart from the twin sonic booms? :D

simulatorman said:
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Thanks for the link, i'm sure that's Star Trek music at the beginning :p

Domo said:
You've summed it up incredibly well. There was always something magical about NASA - just a mention of the acronym was enough to get me excited while a kid growing up.
Now like everything else, money is the driver - value add. Science, understanding and the progression of humanity are no longer good enough reasons. Money which could have been used is more likely to fund wars instead.

Watching the Shuttle from first flight right up to the last has been a privilege.

I quote a BBC reporter:
"As the astronauts arrive to prepare for one last mission, it's a bittersweet moment for residents on Florida's Space Coast: On 8 July they, like many across the world, will be celebrating the achievements of a much loved friend.

But they will be left wondering whether the best years of human space travel now lie now the past"

I hope he's wrong in his closing words.
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Thankfully he's definitely wrong there, but to quote Carl Sagan "It will not be we that reaches Alpha Centauri and the other stars, it will be a species very like us. But with more of our strengths, and fewer of our weaknesses."

 
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PermaBanned said:
Apart from the twin sonic booms? :D
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I get that bit :p
I mean on final approach. It's hard to tell watching vids on YouTube because it's possible to hear the chase planes darting around. I assumed there would be some noise due to the air passing over the various surfaces at relatively high speed.
 
Good question, one i can't answer unfortunately. It does look like the thrusters are still firing even when it's stopped though sometimes, so i'm not sure.
 
Domo said:
Does it make any sound when it comes into land?
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Yeah as said the double sonic-boom is bad-ass :D

Yeah there's like air noise but otherwise it's eerily silent as it glides in, quite cool :) It also glides in hella fast, one second it's a dot the next it's on the runway, is crazy compared to watching normal planes land, the videos don't really show how fast it all happens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2eQIlXourg&feature=related

At about 0:51 is where we got to stand :) (not my video although weirdly I think that is the one I saw land? Can't remember :p)
 
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The flight readiness review has given the go for launch. We are now set to go Friday 8 July at 16:26 BST (11:26 EDT).
 
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My first memory of the shuttle was the Challenger disaster. I was only 5, but the image of the two SRB's separating from the main fuel tank is still really vivid in my mind.
 
Booked my flight tickets today :p got entrance to the Kennedy Center and Tour to see it on the launchpad on the 4th :D

Very excited, just need to sort somewhere to stay in Titusville on the 7th now....
 
Fireskull said:
Booked my flight tickets today :p got entrance to the Kennedy Center and Tour to see it on the launchpad on the 4th :D

Very excited, just need to sort somewhere to stay in Titusville on the 7th now....
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To say I'm envious would be an understatement. :D Have a great trip and don't forget that we need lots of pics. :)
 
Going to be emotional for a lot of people, qeustion though, is it solely down to the Soyuz now for replenishing / refuelling the ISS?
 
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