14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the American space agency announce that the shuttle Atlantis has just been moved to an assembly building in Florida for the last time ever. The orbiter is getting ready to launch on its final mission, which has been dubbed STS-135.
The roll maneuver took place just a day after the space shuttle Endeavour took off to the International Space Station (ISS), on May 16. Atlantis should have already been at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for about two weeks.
Originally, the NASA flight manifest called for Endeavour to launch on April 19, but then malfunctions delayed the launch to April 29, and then to May 16. As such, Atlantis' takeoff date was also modified.
The orbiter was supposed to launch on STS-135 on June 28, but now that deadline is impossible to achieve. As such, NASA decided to delay the launch by a couple of weeks or so. In the mean time, the spacecraft is currently being integrated at the VAB.
The facility is located at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), which has been the home of the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) for more than 30 years. It is the only building in the world that can support shuttle integration.
Atlantis was rolled out of the Orbiter Processing Facility-1 (OPF-1) yesterday. Now at the VAB, it awaits integration with its external fuel tank and the twin solid rocket boosters that will help it get to space. Mission planners say STS-135 will last for about 12 days.
It's been over a year since Atlantis last flew. It returned from the STS -132 mission in May 2010, after it delivered the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module (MRM-2), along with an Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD) to the ISS.
Atlantis will fly its last mission with a crew of only four astronauts, which is made up of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and NASA mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.
With Endeavour already in space, and Discovery having already flown its last mission, Atlantis remains the last SSP spacecraft to launch. Upon its return, most likely sometime in July, it too will undergo a processing stage, during which all hazardous chemicals it contains will be removed.
This will make the spacecraft safe for display at the KSC Visitor Complex, where it's scheduled to remain on permanent display. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington, will get Discovery.
After it returns to Earth, Endeavour will be put on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The shuttle Enterprise – which has never actually flown to space – is headed for the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, in New York, Space reports.