Atlantis' final flight: A visual history of NASA's shuttle program
The last shuttle lifted off Friday, ending a 30-year program known as much for its tragedies as its successes
By The Week Staff | July 8, 2011
A young boy plays with a toy shuttle Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center
REUTERS/Hans Deryk
N
ASA's shuttle program got its final sendoff Friday, with the launch of Atlantis. While critics debate the future of NASA, families and fans have driven miles and camped out near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the last space shuttle to take flight. More than 350 people from 16 countries have flown on the shuttles, and now, after four decades, eight presidents, 135 launches, billions of dollars, and two major tragedies, it's curtains. Here, a look back at the program's major milestones:
MOST READ
MOST SHARED
- A linguistic dissection of 7 annoying teenage sounds
- Stockholm is burning: Why the Swedish riots bode ill for Europe
- How a Ghost Army of American artists helped defeat Hitler
- WATCH: Suspect defends brutal beheading of London man in broad daylight
- 32 TV shows to watch in 2013 [Updated]
- Sadly, you are uglier than you think
- WATCH: Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly spar over the Obama scandals
- London's gruesome attack and the rising threat of lone-wolf terrorism
- What we know about the suspects in the gruesome London attack
- The daily gossip: Morgan Freeman fell asleep during an interview, and more
- WATCH: Suspect defends brutal beheading of London man in broad daylight
- A linguistic dissection of 7 annoying teenage sounds
- How a Ghost Army of American artists helped defeat Hitler
- The politics behind Kanye West's 'New Slaves'
- 6 ways credit cards can be good for your finances
- 10 belatedly groundbreaking Vogue covers
- Sadly, you are uglier than you think
- Stockholm is burning: Why the Swedish riots bode ill for Europe
- WATCH: Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly spar over the Obama scandals
- Are we on the cusp of a solar energy boom?
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
