NASA shuttle Atlantis launched into space today, ending America’s 30-year history of spaceflight as we know it. There was a slight delay before lift-off due to a slight camera glitch, but then everything went off smoothly.
As for the mission, the four astronauts onboard will deliver supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. The shuttle is scheduled to return on July 20, properly timed with the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Two years ago, NASA announced plans to retire its whole fleet of shuttles and focus resources on making ships to go deeper into outer space (the End of the Universe?). NASA’s goal is to get us to Mars and its moons by the mid-2030s.
Leave a Comment:
the space program should be taking seriously but it should be a an international endeavour, more international than it is nowadays. From that common goal, other contacts could sprout. The last space program helped to keep the cold war cold.
Yes, the space program should be a global project, but it's very sad that NASA no longer has an effective launch vehicle in its hangar. If an emergency comes up they will have to turn to China, Russia, or scratch something together using cargo lifting vehicles from the Air Force. The Shuttle was intended to be a gateway vehicle, ending its life as a second generation Shuttle (already designed but never built) was developed. Space resources of all types are potentially so valuable that letting your manned access to them expire is extremely foolish.