Tag: Atlantis
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Shuttle orbiter fleet heading into their final months ahead of exhibition
With Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday “around the corner” of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) the day after they moved Endeavour out of the same place, one might have thought it was Groundhog Day, and by coincidence it just so happened it was. Shuttle Preparing For Final Destinations: While America’s perhaps best-known…
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Endeavour and Atlantis move – Final KSC processing begins for OV-105
It’s the final time Endeavour will enter an OPF (Orbiter Processing Facility). After a storied 19 year, 25 flight career, the Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour was rolled into OPF-2 at the Kennedy Space Center this morning to undergo final outfitting, Main Propulsion System (MPS) tear down, and configuration activities ahead of her October ferry flight…
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Atlantis begins vacation inside the VAB as she prepares for exhibition
Atlantis departed her Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-2) on Friday, ahead of arriving inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Looking rather sorry for herself – with all her propulsive hardware elements removed – Atlantis can at least look forward to staying on the Space Coast, as her impressive retirement home began ground-breaking this week. Heartbreak And Honor:…
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Atlantis put to sleep after 26 years loyal service – OPF turnovers
Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis was powered down for the final time on Thursday, following a 26 year, 33 mission career. With her retirement, the world-famous space ship will at least remain at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), a spaceport which is continuing to transition its shuttle facilities – as seen with the upping of the…
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Reaching the End: Atlantis and the Fight Against Retirement
For Atlantis, the last decade of her career would be marked with many more triumphs as she joined her sisters in the most ambitious project in space to date: construction of the International Space Station. This would mean dodging the order for retirement a whooping two times to become the only Space Shuttle orbiter with…
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Reaching the End: Atlantis and the Fight Against Retirement
For Atlantis, the last decade of her career would be marked with many more triumphs as she joined her sisters in the most ambitious project in space to date: construction of the International Space Station. This would mean dodging the order for retirement a whooping two times to become the only Space Shuttle orbiter with…
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Shuttle Atlantis and MIR: The Realization of Program Goal
With Atlantis’s early years behind her, the middle years of OV-104’s impressive career would serve to radically shift the gears of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program as the iconic vehicles gradually drifted away from solo research missions toward construction, utilization, and support of orbiting space stations. But for Atlantis, this shift in priorities would be immediate,…
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Shuttle Atlantis and MIR: The Realization of Program Goal
With Atlantis’s early years behind her, the middle years of OV-104’s impressive career would serve to radically shift the gears of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program as the iconic vehicles gradually drifted away from solo research missions toward construction, utilization, and support of orbiting space stations. But for Atlantis, this shift in priorities would be immediate,…
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OV-104/ATLANTIS: An International Vehicle for a Changing World
The Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis, in many ways the middle-child orbiter of the Space Shuttle Program – in many ways the one vehicle that has consistently represented the spirit and determination of the Shuttle Program. Over her 25 and a half year, 33 mission career, the Shuttle orbiter Atlantis has ingrained herself into our hearts…
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OV-104/ATLANTIS: An International Vehicle for a Changing World
The Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis, in many ways the middle-child orbiter of the Space Shuttle Program – in many ways the one vehicle that has consistently represented the spirit and determination of the Shuttle Program. Over her 25 and a half year, 33 mission career, the Shuttle orbiter Atlantis has ingrained herself into our hearts…