Tag: STS-135

  • Last shuttle commander ‘back in the fight’ with Boeing

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    When Chris Ferguson climbed into the commander’s seat of the shuttle Atlantis five years ago Friday for the spaceship’s final flight, he didn’t know what turn his career would take when he returned to Earth. Like many space shuttle workers, Ferguson had to decide what to do next. Atlantis’ final flight, which lifted off July…

  • STS-135 video: ‘Poetry in motion’

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    Watch the shuttle Atlantis’ backflip, which occurred five years ago today, before docking to the International Space Station. The rendezvous pitch maneuver — the 360-degree flip — enabled the space station’s crew to photograph Atlantis’ belly with handheld digital cameras equipped with 400- and 800-millimeter lenses as part of post-launch inspections of the heat shield.…

  • On this date in history: The final space shuttle launch

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    FIVE YEARS ago today — July 8, 2011 — Atlantis launched on the final space shuttle mission after 31 years as the centerpiece of America’s human spaceflight endeavors. “LIFTOFF! The final liftoff of Atlantis! On the shoulders of the space shuttle, America will continue the dream.” – NASA countdown commentator George Diller “Houston now controlling…