On Friday, at 2:20 p.m. ET, Space Shuttle Atlantis took off into space, carrying a crew of six and a payload of gear destined for the International Space Station. It was an unremarkable launch in every way — no delays, no notable impacts from foam insulation, no first time astronauts aboard — except one. Friday’s launch was Atlantis’ last.
It was the shuttle’s 32nd flight in 25 years of service, and flight number 132 for the shuttle program. Only two planned shuttle flights remain before the program is retired for good: the Discovery’s last in September, and the Endeavor’s last in November.
“We’re going to take her on her 32nd flight and if you don’t mind, we’ll take her out of the barn and make a few more laps around the planet,” Commander Kenneth Ham radioed from the flight deck just before launch. Minutes later, the Atlantis arced across the blue sky as a sold-out gallery at Kennedy Space Center watched.
CNN’s John Zarella was one of the 9,000 who had a ticket to the show. “I can’t count how many [times] I’ve seen a launch and it never gets old,” he wrote. “My heart always skips a beat at liftoff. It’s a love affair I hate to see coming to an end.”
The end will come a lot quicker than NASA officials had hoped when they sent the first shuttle into space in 1981. The technology packed into the shuttle’s more than 2.5 million parts is still ahead of its time, by many measures. But it’s expensive technology. According to NASA, the Space Shuttle Endeavor cost $1.7 billion to build and every launch costs $450 million. Whatever President Obama and Congress finally settle on as a replacement, it will certainly be cheaper. Until then, US space crews will travel to and from the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
As for Atlantis once it returns to Earth in 12 days? It can be yours for a cool $28.8 million. The launch pad, it appears, is not included.
Photo by NASA via Wikimedia Commons.