Today, at 2:20 pm, NASA will be launching the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its 32nd and final mission into space. By November this year, the entire space shuttle program will end, after a final mission is concluded with the space shuttle Endeavour. Atlantis began its maiden voyage on 3rd October 1985. The NASA space shuttle program began its first orbital-operational mission to space with Columbia on 11th November 1982 (Columbia disintegrated in February 2003 while returning to Earth)
However, Atlantis will be used as an emergency shuttle in case of future space emergency with the International Space Station. But there will be no more regular American space craft launching until 2015, so at that point, NASA will have to rely on Russia’s rocket program to lift its astronauts and cargo to the ISS for five years, maybe more.
There have been 6 space shuttles in its entire history of the program: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. Only Enterprise was never used for space missions, only for testing and promotional purposes. Sadly, Challenger and Columbia disintegrated in unfortunate accidents.
If you have the time to read, with a hot thing for deep technical and historical stuff, here’s the Wikipedia article on the Space Shuttle.
Interesting note: the title of this blog, “Farewell to Atlantis…”. Does it seems familiar to you? Remind you of something from a recent movie last year, now on DVD? Here’s the hint: it starred John Cusack and he plays a character who wrote a book in this super-mega-disaster movie.
If you know what I’m talking about, then I tell you… it’s all sekrit konspiracy stuff! 
