NASA is wrapping up its space shuttle program with the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis on July 8 at 11:26 a.m. EDT at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although this marks an end of an exciting era for the agency, the last shuttle mission does not mean the last of space innovations for America.
During Atlantis’s 12-day mission, astronauts will deliver 8,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station, using the Raffaello, a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module used as a “moving van.”
A major part of this mission is to bring a failed ammonium pump from the International Space Station back to Earth for engineers to study. A total of 5,000 pounds of cargo is to be brought back to Earth.
Within the past 30 years, NASA has successfully built and supplied the orbiting space station. NASA is now planning to make breakthroughs to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, an orbit extending up to 2,000 km from the Earth’s surface.
“President Obama has given us a Mission with a capital ”M"—to focus again on the big picture of exploration and the crucial research and development that will be required for us to move beyond low-Earth orbit,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
Bolden said the president has asked NASA to focus on a visit to Mars, or to find a way to land on an asteroid.
Obama has “charged us with carrying out the inspiring missions only NASA can do that will take us farther than we’ve ever been,” Bolden says.
According to NASA.gov, the space agency has the goal of landing four astronauts on Mars for missions totaling 21 days.
The Dawn spacecraft will initiate a year-long trip to Vesta, the largest asteroid, on July 16. This visit will obtain crucial information regarding the solar system’s earliest history.
The Juno spacecraft will visit Jupiter to study its origins and atmosphere in August, and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project will be launched in September to build the next generation of Earth-monitoring satellite systems.
This current mission STS-135 will be the 135th and final shuttle mission, as well as the 33rd flight of Atlantis.
During Atlantis’s 12-day mission, astronauts will deliver 8,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station, using the Raffaello, a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module used as a “moving van.”
A major part of this mission is to bring a failed ammonium pump from the International Space Station back to Earth for engineers to study. A total of 5,000 pounds of cargo is to be brought back to Earth.
Within the past 30 years, NASA has successfully built and supplied the orbiting space station. NASA is now planning to make breakthroughs to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, an orbit extending up to 2,000 km from the Earth’s surface.
“President Obama has given us a Mission with a capital ”M"—to focus again on the big picture of exploration and the crucial research and development that will be required for us to move beyond low-Earth orbit,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
Bolden said the president has asked NASA to focus on a visit to Mars, or to find a way to land on an asteroid.
Obama has “charged us with carrying out the inspiring missions only NASA can do that will take us farther than we’ve ever been,” Bolden says.
According to NASA.gov, the space agency has the goal of landing four astronauts on Mars for missions totaling 21 days.
The Dawn spacecraft will initiate a year-long trip to Vesta, the largest asteroid, on July 16. This visit will obtain crucial information regarding the solar system’s earliest history.
The Juno spacecraft will visit Jupiter to study its origins and atmosphere in August, and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project will be launched in September to build the next generation of Earth-monitoring satellite systems.
This current mission STS-135 will be the 135th and final shuttle mission, as well as the 33rd flight of Atlantis.
