Historic Shuttle – Final Launch successful

Loved the Commanders last words on exiting the shuttle “Elvis has left the building !”
Not quite “One small step” but appropiate considering the circumstances.

Took the family outside to see it go over just to the S/W of us about 15 minutes ago.
Hard to believe that’s it. No more.

Atlantis Shuttle is 30mins from touchdown…

6200 miles to run, 3 mins from entering atmosphere, Atlantis is on its way back to Kennedy, touchdown due 10:55/10:56am UK time.

Paul F

According to one Tabloid’s headline it was a ” MAGNIFICENT FAILURE “- what tosh!!!!:mad: Shuttle proved it was successful after mission STS2.

It was a bold concept from the start with many untried (at the time) innovations. Yes it was expensive, yes there were the Two tragedies, but after 30 years of missions, its contribution to the construction of the ISS & Hubbble telescope repairs- failure is the last word I’d use with the Shuttle.

🙂 I remember going to Stansted to see her on the back of 7 something 7 and flying over Saffron Walden,if i can find my old slides i may dig them out.

Whatever it is, it certainly is a symbol of the United States’ current demise that it is retired without adequate replacement. Looks like it’s enough today to watch fictional space adventures on HBO rather than push the real thing. Well, as an European one should probably keep silent …

There’s no doubting that the Shuttle became ridiculously expensive, and never quite lived up to what it was hoped it would be, and that as a vehicle, it was always risky. Personally too, I always enjoyed the sheer mechanics of the launches and landings, but was quite bored by much of the on-orbit activities. I want to see a return to the glory-days of Apollo, when NASA WENT places, not just low Earth orbit! What I mourn at the moment is the thousands of job losses from the Shuttle program- like closing a shipyard or the like here, once it’s gone, it’s gone. You never get that capability back.

A lot of Americans I know consider it a big waste of money!

I missed the launch by seven bloody minutes! Not happy 😡

Mixed emotions…

We were fortunate to be at KSC back in Easter Hols 2005 on the day that Atlantis was rolled out of the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building for the “Return to flight ” launch (after the second accident). Our bus tour of KSC meant we got about as close to her as members of the public could that day.

Since then she’s always been “our shuttle” as far as the Paul F family are concerned, and although its only a stupid, irrational and sentimental attachment, we’re pleased to have just watched her perfom a near flawless last ever shuttle launch live on the web. “Go Atlantis!”

Lets hope the mission is a total success, and that she returns safely in twelve days time. Sad to think she’ll never return to space again :(.

Though we weren’t still in Florida for the launch itself, at least we can say we saw her start out on that trip, albeit at a snails pace and firmly fixed to the crawler vehicle :rolleyes:.

I guess a thirty year program isn’t bad going, few other “things” in regular use last that long these days (except perhaps commercial airliners?), but I guess technology moves on, but as with the retirmeent of Concorde I cannot help but think that we have just witnessed the end of another “step forward” for mankind, but with no clear decision taken as to when/if the next step will follow.

Interesting to hear the experts say that there are only four crew aboard her as, with no further shuttle flights available, there is no longer a capability to launch a second shuttle to recover a larger flight crew back should Atlantis “fail” later in the mission and be unable to return to earth. Instead the four crew would have to “lodge” on the ISS and then be brought home (individually or in pairs perhaps?) over a number of Soyuz missions. Somehow that news suddenly seemed to bring home just how much the shuttles’ abilities had been taken for granted.

Paul F

Just watched it myself, and found it very moving that we’ll not see that sight again. What is happening to us? We’re getting shot of everything and going backwards!

I was hoping someone would raise this subject, and glad to hear that it launched well.
What a sad day for manned spaceflight and a great programme, can’t believe that it was juts over thirty years ago that as a spotty 10 yo in shorts I was made (without protest I should add!) to watch the first launch at school!

God bless all that have travelled on the STSs’ Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour, and god rest the souls lost in the effort to expand the knowledge of human kind.

Yes – historic it certainly is now!

I like so many others remember the first launch – seen on a terrible old CRT colour telly, with the family. Today, watched it live on the web – that technology has changed; how much has the technology of the Shuttle changed in those years?

Bruce

It’s been just one more thing that most of us have taken for granted over the
last few years.
It’s a shame that due to the orbits, we won’t get to see it overfly the UK.

It was a perfect launch indeed but a sad day as well…