shuttle fleet

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Look Up, NYC: Enterprise Flies Today

 Enterprise Flies Over NYC 
Apr 27, 2012 10:58 AM CDT

Enterprise Flies Over NYC

Retiring space shuttle gets piggy-back ride over Manhattan

(Newser) - An unusual flying object has landed at New York's JFK Airport: the space shuttle Enterprise. Before arriving this morning, it zoomed around New York City's airspace, riding on top of a modified jumbo jet as part of NASA's process of wrapping up the shuttle program . Enterprise is...

Discovery Takes Last Ride
 Discovery Ends Final Ride 
UPDATED
Apr 17, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Discovery Ends Final Ride

Space shuttle soars above DC, heads for Smithsonian

(Newser) - Space shuttle Discovery landed today at Washington Dulles International Airport, where its wheels will stop for the last time at the Smithsonian. The world's most traveled spaceship landed after taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and soaring around the Washington Monument and White House in a salute to the...

NASA Reveals Massive Mars Rocket Plans

New $35B project could launch up to 165 tons into space

(Newser) - NASA today unveiled plans for a rocket that will power the next generation of space exploration, designed to take manned missions to distant asteroids and eventually Mars, Space.com reports. The uncreatively named “Space Launch System,” or SLS, uses bits of technology from the defunct space shuttle and...

Post-Shuttle Era NASA: Now What?

Agency lacks clear vision for future of space exploration

(Newser) - Atlantis' wheels will hit Earth early Thursday, closing out NASA's epic 30-year space shuttle program for good. But when the dust clears, the space agency has no clear replacement program on the horizon to lead America's return to space, notes the LA Times . Rather, the trailblazing agency is...

'Godspeed:' Atlantis Leaves ISS a Final Time

Shuttle takes unprecedented photos of space station on last return trip

(Newser) - Atlantis left the International Space Station for the very last time today, heading home to end the 30-year run of a vessel that kept Americans flying to and from orbit longer than any other rocketship. The space shuttle slipped away after performing a partial lap around the space station. Ten...

Space Shuttle Atlantis Docks a Final Time
 Atlantis Docks a Final Time 
Jul 10, 2011 11:04 AM CDT

Atlantis Docks a Final Time

Last shuttle mission cruising along smoothly

(Newser) - Atlantis has docked with the International Space Station, yet another final milestone as NASA winds down its storied shuttle program with what the AP is perhaps excessively referring to as "a flight full of passion." "Atlantis arriving," called space station astronaut Ronald Garan Jr. as the...

NASA's Final Shuttle Crew Readies for Atlantis' Last Ridew
 Meet NASA's Last Shuttle Crew 
Jul 3, 2011 8:46 AM CDT

Meet NASA's Last Shuttle Crew

Four astronauts close out program with Atlantis' final flight

(Newser) - They are the envy of America's space program: Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Rex Walheim, and Sandra Magnus will zip into space on Friday aboard NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission. The smallest crew since 1983 amounts to an afterthought: They were initially groomed as a rescue mission in...

Space Shuttle Endeavour Wraps Mission, Prepare to Undock
 Endeavour Wraps Final Mission 
May 29, 2011 8:56 AM CDT

Endeavour Wraps Final Mission

Mark Kelly and crew will undock tonight, return home

(Newser) - It's all over for Endeavour but the undocking: The shuttle's crew floated out the door this morning and closed the hatch behind them, having completed Endeavour's final mission. "We're looking forward to getting home," said commander Mark Kelly, "and we're going to...

Shuttle Atlantis Touches Down a Final Time

NASA hoping White House will relent, grant 1 more flight

(Newser) - Space shuttle Atlantis is back on Earth, and its flying career is over. Atlantis and its six-man crew landed at Florida's Kennedy Space Center this morning, marking the end of Atlantis' 25 years of service. Only two shuttle missions remain, by NASA's two other spaceships. The space agency would like...

Shuttle Crew Return Moon Rock to Space

Apollo 11 rock left behind as Endeavour finishes mission to ISS

(Newser) - The Endeavour shuttle departed the ISS last night, leaving behind the station's new connecting hub and observation deck as well as one well-traveled lump of rock. A lunar rock brought to Earth by Neil Armstrong and brought to the top of Mount Everest by astronaut Scott Parazynski is now an...

Clouds Delay Last Nighttime Shuttle Launch

Endeavour now looks for liftoff early Monday

(Newser) - Clouds prevented space shuttle Endeavour from blasting off this morning on the last planned nighttime shuttle launch, delaying its trip with a final few building blocks for the International Space Station. Launch time was re-scheduled for 4:14am tomorrow. It's expected to be the last shuttle launch in darkness; only...

'08 NASA Missions Called Risky
'08 NASA Missions Called Risky
Jan 6, 2008 11:32 AM CST

'08 NASA Missions Called Risky

Space agency pushing up against 2010 deadline

(Newser) - NASA is speeding up its space shuttle flight schedule to meet the 2010 deadline for the completion of the International Space Station. This year alone, the space agency will launch six missions—twice the number of the last two years—and some experts worry that the crunch is a recipe...

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