SOARmag Headlines

Atlantis Glides into Sunrise as Shuttle Rides into the Sunset
Jul 21, 2011 — Atlantis’ Landing Ends Shuttle Era Space Shuttle Atlantis lands on Runway 15 at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, bringing to an end the 30-year-old shuttle program. Photo credit: NASA. By Marc S. Posner SOAR Magazine Columbia’s fiery destruction in 2003 signaled the beginning of the end for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. This morning’s picture-perfect landing for Atlantis marks the end [...]   Read more...

NASA Administrator Bolden Commemorates Final Space Shuttle Landing
Jul 21, 2011 — WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Charles Bolden today issued this statement about the final landing of the Space Shuttle Program: “At today’s final landing of the space shuttle, we had the rare opportunity to witness history. We turned the page on a remarkable era and began the next chapter in our nation’s extraordinary story [...]   Read more...

NASA’s Proud Space Shuttle Program Ends with Atlantis Landing
Jul 21, 2011 — CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Wrapping up 30 years of unmatched achievements and blazing a trail for the next era of U.S. human spaceflight, NASA’s storied Space Shuttle Program came to a “wheels stop” on Thursday at the conclusion of its 135th mission. Shuttle Atlantis and its four-astronaut crew glided home for the [...]   Read more...

Atlantis’ Payload Bay Doors Closed
Jul 21, 2011 — Space shuttle Atlantis’ payload bay doors are closed and everything continues to proceed on schedule for this morning’s landing. Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office Rick Sturckow is flying weather reconnaissance at Kennedy Space Center to provide real-time observations that will aid in the decision to land. Sturckow is reporting “severe clear” skies and no [...]   Read more...

Space Shuttle Program Facts
Jul 21, 2011 — As the end NASA’s Space Shuttle Program nears, here are some facts provided by the space agency: SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM FACTS STS-135 is the 135th and final shuttle mission and the 33rd flight of Atlantis. 355 individuals will have flown 852 times on 135 shuttle missions since STS-1 launched on April 12, 1981. Sixteen countries have been [...]   Read more...

All Signs Point to Florida Landing on First Opportunity
Jul 21, 2011 — NASA has released the following weather update for tomorrow’s planned shuttle landing attempt at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center: The Spaceflight Meteorology Group has updated its forecast for space shuttle Atlantis’ landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The forecast remains “very favorable,” with no predicted flight rule violations that would prevent landing at 5:56:58 a.m. EDT. Here [...]   Read more...

Crew Awake, Ready for Landing
Jul 21, 2011 — Space shuttle Atlantis’ wakeup song for landing day was “God Bless America” by Kate Smith, played at 9:29 p.m. EDT, for the entire crew and all the men and women who have worked for the shuttle program over the years. Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim will [...]   Read more...

Crew Preps for Final Shuttle Landing
Jul 20, 2011 — Shuttle Atlantis’ crew is wrapping up final preparations for its planned landing at 5:56:58 a ET Thursday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew has stowed the Ku-Band antenna, used for high-data rate communications and television from space, and will go to sleep at 1:29 p.m. Mission managers have cleared Atlantis’ heat shield for [...]   Read more...

Atlantis’ Flight Control System Checks Out
Jul 20, 2011 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 1:24 AM EDT Space shuttle Atlantis’ astronauts activated one of the ship’s three auxiliary power units, APU 1, and performed a checkout of the orbiter’s flight control surfaces. This standard day-before-entry test assures the crew and Mission Control that Atlantis’ elevons and speed brake will provide control once the shuttle enters the [...]   Read more...

Atlantis Departs ISS; Crew Preparing for Thursday Landing
Jul 19, 2011 — At 2:28 a.m. EDT, space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station while the spacecraft were 243 miles above the Pacific, east of Christchurch, New Zealand. Atlantis spent 8 days, 15 hours and 21 minutes attached to the orbiting laboratory. Over the 37 missions devoted to assembling and maintaining the space station, shuttles were docked [...]   Read more...