14 DAY TRIAL // This Friday, May 14, will mark a key milestone in NASA's space program, and namely the final flight of one of its three space shuttles. The orbiter Atlantis is scheduled to take off from the Launch Pad 39A complex at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, in what is to be its 32nd and final mission. There are currently no additional flights planned for Atlantis, although it may need to be sent to orbit again later this year. The spacecraft has been designated as the aid vehicle in case something goes wrong during shuttle Endeavor's last flight, scheduled for this November, Space reports.
“There is a little bit of reverence that the mission will be conducted with given that it's the final planned flight of Atlantis,” explains Mike Sarafin, who is the NASA lead shuttle flight director. During this mission, the orbiter will deliver six astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle's payload bay will contain a new, Russian-built scientific module, which will double as a cargo bay and docking berth on the international facility. A total of three spacewalks to address the new module and its installation are distributed throughout the 12-day mission.
“I have not spent a lot of time thinking about last this and last that. I think maybe after we get all done, then we'll release the big breath and then maybe think about what it all meant to us. But not while we're in the middle of actually processing and flying these vehicles,” said last week in a press release the NASA's space shuttle program manager, John Shannon.
“This is probably the kind of thing that's really going to hit all of us after we're done with the mission and we realize what part of history we may have played. I think the space shuttle as a machine is the single most incredible machine humanity has ever built […] The program has to come to an end at some point, and it is an honor and privilege for us to represent being part of that crew at the end,” added Kenneth Ham, the veteran NASA astronaut that will act as STS-132 Commander.
In addition to Ham, the shuttle will also carry STS-132 pilot Dominic Antonelli, as well as mission specialists Steven Bowen, Garrett Reisman, Michael Good and Piers Sellers. All astronauts arrived at the KSC on Monday, at around 6:49 pm EDT (2300 GMT). They flew in from the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas, in four T-38 training jets. They touched down on the Shuttle Landing Facility airstrip, the same one that they will use when they return aboard Atlantis from the ISS.