14 DAY TRIAL // The orbiter Atlantis will mark an important milestone in the US Space Shuttle Program tonight, when it will roll out to its launch pad for the last time. This will also be the last time any space shuttle does so.
The spacecraft is scheduled to start its trek to the Launch Pad 39A facility at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, tonight at 8 pm EDT (0000 GMT Wednesday). The move will last for up to 7 hours, officials say.
Atlantis will be carried atop the Crawler Transporter mobile launch platform, which will travel extremely slow as it covers the few miles separating the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
The 52-story structure is where NASA engineers attach the space shuttles to their external fuel tanks and their twin solid rocket boosters, getting their final configuration ready for flight. At this time, NASA aims to launch the last shuttle flight ever on July 8.
Shortly after the orbiter is attached to its launch pad, in the wee hours of the morning, the KSC will see the landing of the space shuttle Endeavour, which is returning from a 16-day mission to space.
The spacecraft is scheduled to touch down at 2:35 am EDT (0635 GMT). This means that it might touch down as Atlantis is still en route. NASA officials are very excited about this prospect, but say that they can easily manage both of these tasks at the same time.
“It obviously makes the significance a little high because it’s the last landing for Endeavour and the last scheduled rollout ever. Put those two together, that makes it unique,” NASA spokesman Allard Beutel tells Space in an interview.
Atlantis will carry out its STS-135 mission, the last of the SSP, manned by a crew of only four astronauts. There are no spacewalks planned for this flight. The last extravehicular activities were carried out by Endeavour's STS-134 astronauts during their 11-day stay on the ISS.
With this last launch, the United States will say goodbye to its shuttle fleet, which will be retired this July. The three orbiters have already been promised to three museums around the country, and they will be sent there as soon as they are processed.
“As opposed to being sad, I think it's more people wanting to be a part of the finale of the space shuttle program. Maybe we'll start feeling the sadness at other times. People want to experience it and be a part of space exploration history,” Beutel says.
NASA is expecting over a million people to attend the launch of space shuttle Atlantis.