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Space Shuttle Atlantis
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Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on it's last mission on July 8, 2011 at 11:29 a.m.

The shuttle program ended with the landing of space shuttle Atlantis on Thursday, July 21 at 5:57 a.m.

Atlantis was NASA's fourth space shuttle orbiter to join the fleet.

  • Mission Specialist Michael Massimino peers into Atlantis' aft flight deck window during the fourth spacewalk of the STS-125 mission.
  • Works marked the spot where space shuttle Atlantis' main landing gear came to a stop from the return of the final space shuttle flight in history.
  • A view of shuttle Atlantis as seen from the Russian Mir space station in 1995.
  • Shuttle Atlantis sits on launch pad 39B before STS-27.
  • Space shuttle Atlantis sits on the launch pad, awaiting the last ever launch of the shuttle fleet. (Photo: NASA / Kim Shiflett)
  • Launch Director Robert Sieck and KSC Director Forrest McCartney stand infront of Atlantis after its first KSC Landing.
  • Staff members at the Kennedy Space Center record a special wake-up message for the crew of space shuttle Atlantis as it heads home for the final time.
  • Space shuttle Atlantis lands for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center. (Photo: NASA / Bill Ingalls)
  • Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off the launch pad for the final space shuttle mission. (Image: NASA TV)
  • This image of the International Space Station was taken by Atlantis' STS-135 crew during a fly around as the shuttle departed the station on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. STS-135 is the final shuttle mission to the orbital laboratory. (Photo: NASA)
  • View of space shuttle Atlantis' final launch from 38,000 feet. (Used with permission from the photographer)
  • Shuttle Atlantis is docked to the ISS during the STS-115 mission in 2006.
  • The first flight of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS 51-J mission.
  • Landing of the shuttle Atlantis crew in California on Oct. 7, 1985.
  • The first Kennedy Space Center landing for space shuttle Atlantis, Nov. 15, 1990.
  • The first crew of space shuttle Atlantis: Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Ronald Grabe, Mission Specialists David Hilmers, Robert Stewart and William Pailes.
  • Atlantis approaching the ISS during the STS-115 mission.
  • The first launch of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-51 mission on Oct. 3, 1985.
  • View of the Flight Readiness test on shuttle Atlantis' main engines before STS 51-J in 1985.
  • With a rainbow serving as a backdrop in the sky, space shuttle Atlantis (foreground) sits on Launch Pad A and Endeavour on Launch Pad B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this photo taken Sept. 20, 2008. Image credit: NASA/Troy Cryder
  • Crew of Atlantis makes their final walk out to the launch pad.
  • Atlantis crew waves before they board the astrovan before the final shuttle flight in history.
  • Space shuttle Atlantis' robotic arm scans the orbiter's heat shield for any damage sustained during the shuttle's last launch ever.
  • The Atlantis crew spoke to the media after their arrival at Kennedy Space Center, holding US flags in honor of the Fourth of July.
  • The sun rises over the the space shuttle Atlantis after landing July 21 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA shuttle program. (Photo: NASA)
  • Landing convoy at the Kennedy Space Center begin to 'safe' space shuttle Atlantis on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 after the shuttle and crew completed its final mission - July 21, 2011.
  • Atlantis crew poses with the shuttle after the historic and final landing.
  • The crew of STS-135 heads home aboard Atlantis on the final flight of the space shuttle program. Clockwise from top-left: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus.
Shuttle Atlantis Milestones

Jan. 29, 1979      Contract Award
March 30, 1980  Start structural assembly of crew module
June 13, 1983     Wings arrive at Palmdale, Calif. from Grumman
Dec. 2, 1983       Start of Final Assembly
April 10, 1984     Completed Final Assembly
March , 1985       Rollout from Palmdale
April 13, 1985     Delivery to Kennedy Space Center
Sept. 12, 1985    Flight Readiness Firing
Oct. 3, 1985       First Flight (STS 51-J)
Nov. 15, 1990    First KSC Landing (STS 38)
Early 2005         Two Orbiter Maintenance Down Periods complete
July 8, 2011        Final Atlantis launch

Final Stops for the Space Shuttles
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