Shuttle Atlantis Lands Safely After Final Official Mission

saintory writes "Shuttle Atlantis landed this morning after flying its final official mission. In its 25-year service, the shuttle Atlantis has logged over 120 million miles." After a successful mission to deliver a research module to the International Space Station, the craft landed at Kennedy Space Center, and will "go through the normal flow of prelaunch preparations in order to serve as the 'launch-on-need' vehicle for Endeavour's STS-134 mission, the last scheduled flight of the Space Shuttle Program." Congratulations to the people aboard and on the ground who engineered the shuttle's successful return.

Comments

Welcome home.

[Pojut]

Thank you for your years of service, Atlantis. You will be forever remembered :( Billions in bank bailouts, billions in healthcare....but ~$20 billion for NASA? Out of the question!

Re:Welcome home.

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Meh, even if all of the money towards bank bailouts and healthcare went towards NASA, I'd still like to see the shuttles retired. We can make more progress in space exploration using more modern launch systems (Falcon 9, Atlas V) and on-orbit rendezvous than we can flying the Space Shuttle. Don't get me wrong, the shuttles have provided very necessary lessons in manned-space exploration and LEO operations, but the program is almost 30 years old and has been a politicized boondoggle from the beginning. If the shuttles had actually become the quick-cycle space planes they were sold as, then maybe I would say continue the program. However, as it stands now, the shuttle program had its time. Now its time for our nation (and species) to evolve in terms of space exploration. This, of course, is just my humble opinion.

For the record, I'd like to thank the shuttle crews for their years of service as well.

Re:Welcome home.

[Anonymous Coward]

I've actually been inside the Atlantis. I was lucky enough to receive the VIP tour. I'm gonna glow your mind. The technicians there say *every inch* of wire is removed and closely examined after every launch. So yea, I would agree with OP, the shuttle basically gets gutted after launch. How much is replaced after each inspection I can't say.

Fun fact: the shuttle bay doors are only designed to be opened in space. If opened on earth their own weight would rip the hinges apart. During inspection the doors are supported by huge braces. :D
Oblig Picture:

http://imgur.com/7pBjO.jpg

http://imgur.com/qzxT6.jpg

http://imgur.com/2SPRA.jpg

http://imgur.com/EUxbD.jpg

really?

[Thud457]

final official mission?

WTF are Billy-Bob and Jethro going to take it for a joyride when Ferris foolishly leaves it at a downtown Chicago parking garage?

Re:really?

[Binestar]

Atlantis is the "Emergency Rescue" shuttle for the last 2 missions, so it is possible she could fly up and recover astronauts stranded due to tile damage in one of the last 2 missions.

blue book value sucks

[SethJohnson]

Should have sold it way sooner. With that many miles, it's going to be hard to sell on Craigslist. Best might be to sell it to an unwary eBayer sight-unseen. "broken odometer"

Seth

For Sale

[KiwiCanuck]

1985 Space Shuttle (Atlantis), good condition, auto, A/C, seats 5, 52,250lbs payload, 120 million miles ("highway"), very fast ride 17,320mph, many new upgrades, serious enquiries only.

Re:For Sale

[exley]

The cost to pick up one of the shuttles is almost $30 million. They aren't being sold (at this point anyway); that number is allegedly just the cost to clean up the shuttle (removing hazardous materials, etc.), get it display-worthy, and transport it to its final location.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/25/space.shuttles.retirement/index.html

It will all be worth it...

[mr_nazgul]

Space is a dangerous challenge, but the rewards will be worth it. In the end, all of man kind will benefit.
"A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner."

Hmmm...

[JasoninKS]

I wonder if any of our astronauts ever tried turning those miles into frequent flier miles.... Of course, now-a-days 120 million miles would probably only get you bumped up from sitting on the wing to being shoved in an overhead bin.

Re:So long, America. It was a bumpy ride...

[vlm]

Your neighbor will get a job filling holes.

Another tiger woods joke on slashdot?

Re:How much of the it is 25yrs old?

[the_macman]

I've actually been inside the Atlantis. I was lucky enough to receive the VIP tour. I'm gonna glow your mind. The technicians there say *every inch* of wire is removed and closely examined after every launch. So yea, I would agree with OP, the shuttle basically gets gutted after launch. How much is replaced after each inspection I can't say.

Fun fact: the shuttle bay doors are only designed to be opened in space. If opened on earth their own weight would rip the hinges apart. During inspection the doors are supported by huge braces. :D
Oblig Picture:
http://imgur.com/7pBjO.jpg

  http://imgur.com/qzxT6.jpg

  http://imgur.com/2SPRA.jpg

  http://imgur.com/EUxbD.jpg

Re:can they use it for ISS space? spare parts?

[phaggood]

It should be parked outside just beyond the 'porch' they installed a while back; preferably sans wheels and up on cinder blocks.

Re:How much of the it is 25yrs old?

[trout007]

I think you might be mistaken about the wire. In 2005 we had a problem with some Kapton insulation so at that time the wiring that could be reached was fully inspected visually. The high wear areas were protected with Teflon and Kapon Tape. We were developing instruments that could detect insulation breaks but that was canceled when the program was scheduled to end in 2010. So now it's just visual inspection of places that we know to be potentially high wear areas.