The months-long decommissioning process after the shuttle lands will make sure Endeavour is properly decontaminated and safe for the exhibit.ĭiscovery will find a home at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This vehicle is a wonderful machine and it's an honor and a privilege for each one of us to be a part of her final flight.'Įndeavour has been promised to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. She's performed absolutely magnificently. I fell in love with this vehicle the first time I got to fly, three years ago on STS-123. 'It's very bittersweet,' pilot Johnson said in an in-flight interview. Now that Endeavour is on the ground again, the shuttle will begin the next Earth-bound phase of its career: being prepared for public display at a museum.įour institutions across the country were selected by NASA chief Charles Bolden to display Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour and the test vehicle Enterprise, following the retirement of the agency's shuttle program. segment, the Unity node, in December 1998.Įndeavour went on to haul up crucial segments of the station, including sections of the backbone-like truss, solar arrays, the Tranquility module, Cupola observatory, and most recently the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. The shuttle delivered and attached the station's first U.S. NASA's space shuttles have played instrumental roles in the construction of the space station, and Endeavour made 12 visits to the orbiting complex in 25 flights. In a rare passing of two shuttles in the night, Atlantis should reach the pad about an hour after Endeavour's landing. The STS-135 flight of Atlantis is scheduled to launch on a supply mission to the International Space Station in early July.Įarlier tonight, Atlantis made its final slow crawl to the launch pad in advance of its targeted launch on July 8. NASA has one final shuttle mission planned before its 30-year space shuttle program is retired for good. On its last trip into space, the orbiter tacked more than 6 million miles onto its odometer, bringing the shuttle's total distance travelled to over 122 million miles. The fourth and final outing marked the final spacewalk ever taken by members of a shuttle crew. The crew performed four spacewalks to make upgrades to the station. 'We're looking forward to hearing what those discoveries are.' 'We got the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer installed, which is a remarkable thing for physics and for science,' Kelly said before Endeavour undocked from the space station. The particle physics detector will measure high-energy cosmic rays, and search for signs of antimatter and mysterious dark matter in the universe. Johnson and mission specialists Greg Chamitoff, Mike Fincke, Andrew Feustel and Roberto Vittori delivered and installed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the exterior of the station's starboard truss. The six member crew for space shuttle Endeavour's final mission poses for an STS-134 in-flight crew portrait in the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo lab on the International Space Station on May 26, 2011. 'As we begin the transition from the shuttle program to the commercial transportation of our crews and cargo, our ability to tackle big challenges remains steadfast and will ensure that NASA reaches even more destinations farther in the solar system.' 'We are very proud of Endeavour's legacy, and this penultimate flight of the space shuttle program once again demonstrated the amazing skill and dedication of our astronauts and the entire workforce,' Bolden said in a statement after the shuttle landed.

The orbiter spent 11 days, 17 hours and 41 minutes parked at the orbiting outpost. (Image credit: NASA TV)Įndeavour launched on its 25th and final mission on May 16 to deliver a $2 billion astrophysics experiment, called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and extra supplies to the International Space Station. The space shuttle Endeavour on the landing strip at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after the orbiter's 25th and final landing.

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