14 DAY TRIAL // After a two-day trek atop its Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) Boeing 747 jumbo jet, the orbiter Atlantis returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday evening, under the gaze of large crowds gathered on route for the occasion. After landing safely at the Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California on May 24, Atlantis underwent preparations for this flight, which ended in a parade held in the evening sky, as the massive SCA circled the runway for all the spectators to see.
The heavily-modified Boeing flew at a very low altitude carrying the shuttle, so residents in the areas around the KSC and visitors could see the spacecraft that managed to repair the Hubble Space Telescope during the STS-125 mission. In five back-to-back spacewalks, the seven-astronaut crew aboard the orbiter managed to replace, repair or upgrade almost every single instrument on the world's most famous observer, and thus prolong its life until at least 2014.
The shuttle flew from California on Monday morning, but spent the night in El Paso, Texas, at the Biggs Army Airfield. NASA did not take any unnecessary risks with the flight, as the shuttles are iconic to its program. Despite the fact that the both SCAs were significantly altered, in order to be able to carry their 100-ton cargo, they have a severely limited range and altitude when they carry their orbiters.
As such, they have to make detours and stops along the way, for refueling and safety checks. Though it took more than a week to set the shuttle on the Boeing, flight engineers wanted to ensure everything was in order, and safely attached.
Over the past few months, requests for flybys have been pouring in from other NASA space centers as well, and agency officials suspect that is has something to do with the fact that the space shuttle program is coming to an end in 2010. For this year, NASA has only two more shuttle missions planned, of which the STS-127 flight to the International Space Station (ISS) is currently scheduled for June 13.
Altogether, the shuttle will perform eight more flights, of which Atlantis will fly two, Space reports. Most likely, when the end of the space program draws near, flybys will become an option, to satisfy the American public. Despite protests on the costs of the shuttle program, citizens have taken a deep liking in the shuttles, and view them as an important part of the country's history.