Sta per finire un'era

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Il sito della NASA, che mostra le ricadute tecnologiche del programma Shuttle sulla vita quotidiana.

 

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/

 

Molto interessante.

[TT-1 Pinto]

Intanto, negli USA, si sta pianificando una missione di rifornimento alla ISS per mezzo di un vettore "Falcon 9/Dragon" di SpaceX da tenersi verso la fine del prossimo mese di Novembre ....

 

http://goo.gl/SiBRN

 

 

 

[TT-1 Pinto]

Ultimo (?) aggiornamento .... dopo il rientro ....

 

 

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/news/STS-135-27.html

 

 

 

The End of an Era

 

Workers measured and marked in bright red the letters "MLG" at the spot where space shuttle Atlantis' main landing gear came to rest after the vehicle's final return from space. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history on the STS-135 mission, Atlantis safely and successfully rounded out NASA's Space Shuttle Program on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. EDT, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles.

 

Image Credit: NASA/Kyle Herring

 

[TT-1 Pinto]

"Boss" pensierosi ....

 

Atlantis

 

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, and NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana walk along the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA Kennedy Space Center shortly after the space shuttle Atlantis landed, completing its 13-day mission to the International Space Station and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program, early Thursday morning, July 21, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Overall, Atlantis spent 307 days in space and traveled nearly 126 million miles during its 33 flights. Atlantis, the fourth orbiter built, launched on its first mission on Oct. 3, 1985.

 

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

 

[VittorioVeneto]

Thunderbirds over Cape Canaveral

 

 

[TT-1 Pinto]

Verso l'OPF ....

 

Completing the Mission

 

After completing the STS-135 mission, space shuttle Atlantis is rolled over to the Orbiter Processing Facility shortly after landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility. Atlantis and the STS-135 crew completed a 13-day mission to the International Space Station and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program, early Thursday morning, July 21, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Overall, Atlantis spent 307 days in space and traveled nearly 126 million miles during its 33 flights. Atlantis, the fourth orbiter built, launched on its first mission on Oct. 3, 1985.

 

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

 

[TT-1 Pinto]

Discovery .... l'ultimo volo ....

 

Dal "Daily Report" dell' AFA - Wednesday April 18, 2012

 

 

Air Frame

 

The Shuttle Discovery arrives atop its modified 747 host at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., April 17, 2012.

 

The 747 ferried Discovery one final time, carrying it from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., to its new home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at the airport.

 

(AFA photo by Arie Church)

 

Inoltre .... dalla NASA ....

 

Space Shuttle Discovery Flown Over the U.S. Capitol

 

Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is seen as it flies near the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Washington.

 

Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles.

 

NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers.

 

Image Credit: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Harold Dorwin

[TT-1 Pinto]

Dalla NASA ....

 

Space Shuttle Discovery Arrives at Udvar-Hazy

 

Space shuttles Enterprise, left, and Discovery meet nose-to-nose at the beginning of a transfer ceremony at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Thursday, April 19, 2012, in Chantilly, Va.

 

Space shuttle Discovery--the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles--will take the place of Enterprise at the center to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers at the center.

 

image Credit: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Carolyn Russo

 

[VittorioVeneto]

 

 

Lo Shuttle Endeavor trasportato da un B747 sopra il Golden Gate di San Francisco

[TT-1 Pinto]

Space shuttle Endeavour, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) performs a low flyby past the tower at Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012.

 

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

 

Endeavour's Final Flight Ends ....

 

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver speaks at a welcoming ceremony for space shuttle Endeavour, on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, at Los Angeles International Airport.

Beginning Oct. 30, the shuttle will be on display in the California Science center's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, embarking on its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and educate and inspire future generations of explorers.

 

Photo Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers

[TT-1 Pinto]

Ieri, 12 Aprile, cadeva il 52° anniversario del volo di Gagarin .... ma, in quella stessa data, 32 anni fa, aveva inizio un'altra non meno importante fase dell'esplorazione spaziale ....

La NASA ricorda entrambe le imprese ....

 

A new era in space flight began on April 12, 1981, when Space Shuttle Columbia, or STS-1, soared into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Astronaut John Young, a veteran of four previous spaceflights including a walk on the moon in 1972, commanded the mission.

Navy test pilot Bob Crippen piloted the mission and would go on to command three future shuttle missions.

The shuttle was humankind's first re-usable spacecraft.

The orbiter would launch like a rocket and land like a plane.

The two solid rocket boosters that helped push them into space would also be re-used, after being recovered in the ocean.

Only the massive external fuel tank would burn up as it fell back to Earth.

It was all known as the Space Transportation System.

Twenty years prior to the historic launch, on April 12, 1961, the era of human spaceflight began when Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth in his Vostock I spacecraft.

The flight lasted 108 minutes.

Pictured here: a timed exposure of STS-1, at Launch Pad A, Complex 39, turns the space vehicle and support facilities into a night- time fantasy of light.

Structures to the left of the shuttle are the fixed and the rotating service structure.

Image Credit: NASA