Space shuttle gets its final assignments: related news

Space shuttle gets its final assignments

shuttleOn Monday NASA released the final mission dates and details of the space shuttle, marking May 31, 2010 as the last flight of this icon of modern space flight. For many young scientists and engineers, the space shuttle represents their only image of manned space exploration, and for a lot of them, it was part of their inspiration to pursue the sciences.

Infrastructure needed for future space exploration

The United States is facing a crisis in its human space program. The huge investments in the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS) programs are leveling off, but the replacement for the Space Shuttle and the new space exploration architecture plans for future visits to the Space Station and missions to the Moon and Mars (called the “Vision for Space Exploration� or VSE) are still in early development. A “gap� in the ability of the United States to provide human and cargo transportation to and from the ISS is now of grave concern as the fleet of Space Shuttles is reaching the end of its operational life. This type of unfortunate situation has happened before (1975 to 1981) between the end of Saturn-Apollo rocket operations and initial operations of the Space Shuttle.

Two space shuttle missions have been postponed including the final repair to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Two space shuttle missions have been postponed including the final repair to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Kennedy Space Center - Space Station Processing Facility, USA

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is one of the USA's most visible government installations, handling multiple space shuttle, military and commercial launches with payload values exceeding $1 billion per year. The KSC is located on Florida's Space Coast and is 55km (34 miles) long from north to south, and 16km (10 miles) across at its widest point. It is the United States of America's only launch complex for manned operations. KSC houses some of the most unique facilities in the world. Among these is the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), which accommodates shuttle payloads for the International Space Station (ISS).

Air Force Museum Gets $14M for New Building That Would House Shuttle ; Space Shuttle Would Be Placed on Exhibit If NASA Gives Them One, Museum Says.

Air Force Museum Gets $14M for New Building That Would House Shuttle ; Space Shuttle Would Be Placed on Exhibit If NASA Gives Them One, Museum Says.

Launch Pad Repairs to Begin; Hubble Repair Mission Should Go As Scheduled

Work will begin on Friday to repair damaged sections of Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A that was damaged during the last space shuttle launch on May 31. On Thursday, (June 26) NASA managers approved a plan that would complete the repairs by the third week of August. Therefore the mission schedule shouldn’t be impacted. The next space shuttle flight, the high-profile final mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled to launch on October 8, and if all goes well with the repairs, space shuttle Atlantis would crawl its way out to the pad on August 29. "We really like the plan," said shuttle Program Manager John Shannon. "We expect to start moving out on it right away."

Space Shuttle Final Flight Programmed: May 31 2010

NASA has put a final date on the shuttle program: May 31 2010. That day, the shuttle will launch for the last time, putting an end to 29 years of amazing missions, two of them with tragic endings. The final will be STS-133, in which Endeavour "will carry critical spare components that will be placed on the outside of the station," including new communication antennas, a gas tank, spare parts for giant space robot Dextre, and the coolest of them all: "micrometeoroid debris shields." I don't know about you, but I hope these involve invisible fields or laser micro-turrets or some kind of plasma generator. They also released details for the remaining flights of Endeavour, Discovery, and Atlantis:

NASA negotiating to buy space shuttle successor from Japan

A Japanese newspaper is reporting that NASA has begun negotiating with Japan's space agency to purchase a Japanese spacecraft to replace the space shuttle. The newspaper says US officials have been in unofficial talks with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency about buying the H-2 Transfer Vehicle, or HTV. The HTV is an unmanned cargo vessel being designed to deliver supplies to the international space station, which is currently kept stocked by the space shuttle as well as Russian and European spacecraft.

NASA Sets Briefings For Hubble Space Telescope Shuttle Mission

HOUSTON -- NASA will hold a series of news media briefings Sept. 8 - 9 to preview the space shuttle's fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will provide live coverage of the briefings from the Johnson Space Center and the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Questions also will be taken from other participating NASA locations.

Retired NASA SpaceCraft Operator Witnessed Extraterrestrial in Space Shuttle Mission

Clark McClelland is a retired Spacecraft Operator with NASA who during a 34 year career was responsible for ensuring the safety of numerous NASA missions including Mercury spaceflights, Apollo missions, the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle. In a statement released on his website on July 29, 2008, McClelland revealed that he witnessed an eight to nine foot tall extraterrestrial in association with a Space Shuttle mission he was monitoring from the Kennedy Space Center. He wrote:

Final Space Shuttle Launch Set for May 2010

HOUSTON — NASA has tentatively set the final space shuttle mission for May 31, 2010, four months before the shuttle fleet retires.

Space Station Invaded by Students from Outer Space Base

HOUSTON, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Arizona kids and teens are set to blast their local libraries into orbit after completing Outer Space Base, a library series of space science programs in Tucson. Nine- to thirteen-year-olds will participate in a live educational downlink with Expedition 17 astronaut Greg Chamitoff aboard the International Space Station on Friday, Aug. 15, from 1:10 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. CDT. The Pima County Public Library is the first public library system to host a space station downlink. The downlink also will be a first for the State of Arizona. Outer Space Base programs are the product of a partnership between the library, NASA, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and the Mars Education Program at

NASA Announces End Date of Space Shuttle

CupolaNASA has announced that the final flight of their shuttles will be May 31, 2010. It will be carrying spare parts for the ISS. One of the flights before that time will be taking up the 1.8 ton Cupola, a European-built structure that gives astronauts a 360º view of space. Going up December 10, 2009, the space agency believes that this will be an incredible outlet for pictures. Once the shuttle has been retired, European and Japanese ATVs and Russian Progress crafts will be doing all the flying. And there will always be the commercial vehicles for taking billionaires into the final frontier.

NASA Sets Launch Dates For Remaining Space Shuttle Missions

HOUSTON, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA selected target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions on the current manifest in 2009 and 2010. The manifest includes one flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven assembly flights to the International Space Station, and two station contingency flights, planned to be completed before the end of fiscal year 2010. The agency previously selected Oct. 8 and Nov. 10 as launch dates for Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service Hubble and Endeavour's STS-126 / ULF-2 mission to supply the space station and service both Solar Alpha Rotary Joints on the port and starboard end of its truss backbone that supports equipment and solar arrays. The approved target dates are subject to change based on processing and other launch vehicle schedul

Final space shuttle flight due May 2010: NASA

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The final flight in NASA's space shuttle program will take off on May 31, 2010, four months before the fleet is retired after 30 years of service, the agency said Tuesday.

Review: Tourists in Space

Over the last several years, the concept of personal spaceflight (aka space tourism) has gained acceptance from the broader public, even if the development of the vehicles intended to serve this new market has lagged (see “Where’s my rocketship?� The Space Review, July 7, 2008). What was once treated with winks and giggles and guffaws is now given serious consideration not just by the space industry but the much larger travel and tourism industry as well. So much so that someone can publish a book with the title Tourists in Space: A Practical Guide and have it treated as just that: a nuts-and-bolts look at suborbital and orbital space tourism, particularly for those people considering signing up for a ride into space.

Aldrin Warns that NASA will fall Behind Russia and China in Space Exploration

The world knows the huge potential China and Russia have for space exploration. Russia is maintaining a strong presence in space with their sturdy Soyuz program and China has set its sights on having their very first "taikonaut" EVA at the end of this year. But where does this leave NASA? The US space agency has spearheaded the exploration of space for the last 50 years, but amongst all the talk about NASA setbacks, overspending and delays, could the glory days be coming to an abrupt end? In May, the legendary astronaut John Glenn spoke out against Shuttle decommissioning and last week, US Senator Bill Nelson called a meeting at Cape Canaveral to raise concerns about announced job cuts in 2010. Now, the most famous NASA ex-employee and second man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin has voiced warnings that the US could lose its grip on space and beg

NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter Vehicles , USA

The space shuttle is the family of manned launch vehicles used by NASA to place payloads and crews into low earth orbit. The first space shuttle was launched in April 1981. The first orbiter was the Enterprise which was a non-orbital test vehicle.

Final NASA Shuttle Mission Date Announced

A NASA worker waits to get onto pad 39A to continue work on space shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Thursday Dec. 6, 2007. NASA has announced plans to retire its shuttle fleet in 2010.

NASA sets date for final shuttle mission

The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7, 2008. The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7, 2008.

NASA sets remaining space shuttle launches

NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery approaches Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center for an on time landing at 11:15 AM on June 14, 2008. Discovery and her crew just completed the successful delivery of the Kibo Laboratory to the International Space Station for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. (UPI Photo/Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell)

Artistic Endeavours: Space Shuttle Statues to be Painted for Student Scholarships

Over 100 space shuttles will land this November at the Kennedy Space Center, though NASA can take credit for only one. The additional orbiters will be courtesy the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which on Thursday formally announced the "Shuttles Orbiting the Space Coast" program, a public art exhibit organized to celebrate the first half-century of U.S. space exploration.

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