NASA Makes a 360: Atlantis to Retire in 2008

I reported last month that NASA had decided that instead of originally retiring the space shuttle Atlantis in 2008, they changed their decision so it would retire in 2010 to ease the hectic burden off of Endeavour and Discovery. But NASA has made a complete U-Turn and in a recent manifest, have said that Atlantis will now retire in 2008.

Atlantis's last two mission will be STS-122, to add the Columbus Laboratory to the ISS and STS-125 will be a servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Rumors (let me stress rumors) suggest that this early retirement was so that NASA doesn't have to pay the workers of the United Space Alliance who help to maintain the shuttle and many other tasks. The money saved by the reduced labor costs would most likely be put forth for the Constellation Space Program. This rumor is suggest by many sources because there is a lack of a better reason for this early retirement.

Because Atlantis will be retired two years before its counterparts, Discovery and Endeavour, Atlantis will most likely stripped down for spare parts.

Image Credit: NASA

Space Shuttle Atlantis to Retire in 2010

After completing a successful landing and completing mission STS-117, the Space Shuttle Atlantis has been announced to be retired in 2010.It was previously announced that Atlantis would be retired in September or October of 2008, but NASA managers have now decided to postpone that retirement date to 2010 so it can serve a couple of extra missions. Atlantis and its counterparts the Space Shuttle Discover and Endeavour, will all now be retired in 2010; with the closing of the Space Shuttle Program.

Image Credit: NASA Spaceflight
Original Source: NASA Spaceflight

Space Shuttle Atlantis Has Landed: Mission Summary

By: Astroversity

After landing successfully, the crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis have faced problems, but at the same time, they have achieved many success during the STS-117 mission.

First, a small part of the shuttle's thermal blanket was discovered to have peeled off, but it was then repaired by a sewing kit with stainless steel wire by the astronauts. Then, Russian computers crashed aboard the International Space Station. These computers controlled the oxygen supply and the orientation of the ISS. These computers were then fixed by Russian Astronaut who used a cable to bypass a circuit board.

Image Credit: MSNBC

This mission also accomplished a lot. The Atlantis crew installed a new truss on the ISS, unfurled a new pair of solar arrays, and activated a rotating joint that would point the solar arrays toward the Sun.

When time came for landing on June 21 (Thursday) bad weather prevented landing, and today (Friday, June 22) the shuttle had five chances to land - two at Kennedy Space Center and 3 chances at Edward's Air Force Base in California.

Bad weather still continued to delay landing at the Kennedy Space Center, while conditions at Edwards Air Force Base are good for the shuttle to land. Flight managers finally decided that because bad weather continued at the Kennedy Space Center, they would take the first opportunity to land at Edward's Air Force Base. They then successfully landed at Edward's Air Force Base. Now STS-117 comes to an end.

Thermal Blanket To Be Reparied On Space Shuttle

By: Astroversity

The astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis will have to use a sewing kit, that is usually used to repair spacesuits, to repair the space shuttle's thermal blanket. To accomodate the repair, the 11-day mission will be extended by two days for the repair. The 4 by 6 inch piece of the blanket will be sewn together during the third spacewalk on Friday, or possibly on Sunay during the fourth spacewalk. The stainless steel wire will help secure the pad, and make the space shuttle safer.

Image Credit: NASA