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Shuttle Atlantis Docks With International Space Station For the Last Time

Posted by timothy on from the since-we-were-in-the-neighborhood dept.

The BBC reports, with video, that the shuttle Atlantis "has docked with the International Space Station for the final time. The shuttle has brought a year's supply of food and around two tonnes of other supplies and spare parts to the ISS," where the shuttle will remain docked for at least seven days.

6 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Re:so... by ModernGeek · · Score: 3, Informative

    Look up European ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle)

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  2. Re:so... by Zorpheus · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a nice list on [a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station#Docking_schedule]Wikipedia[/a].
    It is not only the Russian Progress and the European ATV, but the Japanese HTV, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and something called Cygnus. Payloads are 7t for ATV, 6t for HTV, 6t for Dragon, 2.6t for Progress, 2.7t for Cygnus.

  3. Here's an idea... by jeffmeden · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why not just leave the shuttle there? It went up with just 4 astronauts, surely a soyuz capsule can bring them back. Let's just leave the shuttle there as a large-scale escape pod and science area. Why not do that with all the shuttles? Do we really need that many of them showing up in museums? Is the shuttle any less space-worth over the long term than the rest of the ISS?

    1. Re:Here's an idea... by camperdave · · Score: 4, Informative

      A shuttle is not just something that you can park in space. Certain elements need to be kept warm. Others need to be kept pressurized. That means the shuttle must be kept running. The shuttle gets its power from fuel cells which "burn" hydrogen and oxygen. The standard shuttle (such as Atlantis) can operate for about ten days. Endeavour and Columbia are the only two shuttles equipped with extended duration fuel tanks. There is a system by which the shuttle can be powered from the space station's power, but Atlantis is not equipped with that system.

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  4. Re:Taking stock of the decades of the shuttle prog by jeffmeden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is my humble request:

    Taking stock of the 30 years of the shuttle program. I mean, I would like to know the benefits directly linked to the decades of this program.

    The stock should include among other metrics; how much tax payer dollars have been sunk into the program, how else these dollars could have been used, what benefits we've obtained as a nation, any missed opportunities and other benefits if any. Specifically, I would like to see tangible things that can directly be attributed to the presence of the shuttle program.

    Here's my take: There is not much we have benefited. I other words, the USA would not be that worse of if the shuttle program never existed.

    You are *so* right. With the approximately $200 billion that we spent on almost 30 years of space science, we could have bought: One failed insurance company!

    Oh wait, we did. Yeah, given the choice between owning a failed insurance company (AIG in case you hadn't guessed), and contributing 30 years of spaceflight to the world, I think I am going to have to go with the shuttle program on this one.

  5. Re:Taking stock of the decades of the shuttle prog by MSRedfox · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Here's my take: There is not much we have benefited. I other words, the USA would not be that worse of if the shuttle program never existed.

    Tell that to every scientist that watched a space shuttle launch as a child and was inspired to learn. Not all rewards are obvious and tangible.