The first of the last 5 space shuttle missions came to an end with a night landing in Florida.
Endeavour landed at night on the runway dedicated to space shuttles at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on 21 February at 22:20 local time. Take a look at the pictures of the STS-130 mission with this Enjoy Space portfolio. Credit: NASA
Commander George Zamka and Pilot Terry Virts landed Endeavour on the runway at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Sunday 21 February at 22:20 local time (03:20 UT - Universal Time on Monday 22 February). The space shuttle therefore made the 23rd night landing of NASA’s entire space plane programme and the 17th on this particular runaway at the Kennedy Center. NASA TV video below.
Only 4 missions left! With STS-130, the 6 astronauts from Endeavour, helped by the 5 members of the International Space Station’s Expedition 22, installed and started up the Tranquility module and the Cupola observation post, both of which were made in Europe by Thales Alenia Space (see this article). This mission lasted a total of 13 days, 18 hours, 6 minutes and 24 seconds. There are now only 4 space shuttle flights left before their retirement! The provisional schedule for the slated missions, all heading to the International Space Station, is shown below. Unless otherwise stated, the astronauts are of American nationality. Dates and times are given in local Florida time and are obviously subject to change in the event of a schedule modification.
STS-131 Blast-off: 5 April 2010 at 06:27. Launch pad 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Scheduled length: 13 days. Discovery logistics flight (transportation of equipment) with an Italian MPLM (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module) module in the payload bay. Crew: Alan Poindexter (Commander), James Dutton Jr. (Pilot), Clayton Anderson, Rick Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki (JAXA, Japanese Space Agency). STS131 mission (NASA)
STS-132 Blast-off: 14 May 2010 at 14:28. Launch pad 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Scheduled length: 11 days. Last flight for the space shuttle Atlantis which is to carry miscellaneous pieces of equipment and a Russian MRM1 (Mini-Research Module dubbed “Rassvet” or “dawn”) module. Crew: Kenneth Ham (Commander), Dominic Antonelli (Pilot), Michel Good, Piers Sellers, Stephen Bowen and Garrett Reisman. STS-132 mission (NASA)
STS-134 Blast-off: 29 July 2010 at 07:51. Launch pad 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Scheduled length: 10 days. Last flight for the space shuttle Endeavour which will take the AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) to the ISS. This scientific instrument is to be installed outside and is capable of detecting antimatter. Crew: Mark Kelly (Commander), Gregory Johnson (Pilot), Gregory Chamitoff, Michael Fincke and Roberto Vittori (Italian astronaut from the ESA, the European Space Agency). There is no mistake: the STS-134 mission is to take place before the 133 because STS-134, which will be carrying the AMS, was added to the initially scheduled missions. It was then decided, for logistical reasons, that a supplies mission should be the last to go to the ISS, therefore STS-133 and not 134. STS-134 mission (NASA)
STS-133 Blast-off: 16 September 2010 at 11:57. Launch pad 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Scheduled length: 8 days. Last flight for Discovery and the last NASA space shuttle flight. This logistics mission will provide equipment and supplies using an Italian MPLM (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module) module in the payload bay. Crew: Steven Lindsey (Commander), Eric Boe (Pilot), Timothy Kopra, Michael Barratt, Nicole Stott and Alvin Drew. STS-133 mission (NASA)
This is the mythical rocket par excellence, the one that launched Sputnik, the first satellite and Gagarin, the first man in space. The CSG, Guiana Space Centre, is now one of its launch bases: a historic achievement.
The first episode of this famous science-fiction series was broadcast in September 1966. NASA has often made references to these programmes, as in the case of the space shuttle Enterprise, which had the same name as the spaceship in the series.
50 years ago on 5 May 1961, a few weeks after Gagarin, American Alan Shepard reached space. Several years later, he was to walk on the Moon, summarising as it were the race in which the Soviet Union and the United States were competing.
