![]() ![]() ![]() "There's an emotional attachment, almost human-like, to that hardware," Chilton told collectSPACE. This week, technicians removed fuel lines that led to Endeavour's engines for possible reuse with NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket now under development.Īstronaut Kevin Chilton, who began his own astronaut career flying as the pilot of Endeavour's maiden mission, was also there this past weekend to see Endeavour "alive" one last time. Since then, shuttle workers have removed from Endeavour hazardous materials and components that might be used for future spacecraft. Discovery, which temporarily was being stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), is switching places with Endeavour, which has been undergoing decommissioning in OPF-1. The 16-day mission to the International Space Station launched on May 16, 2011.Ī unique glimpse of operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida shows space shuttle Discovery, at right, approaching shuttle Endeavour outside Orbiter Processing Facility-3 (OPF-3). 22.Įndeavour flew its 25th and final mission, STS-134, a year ago this month. Atlantis, which is destined for display just down the road from its processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, was shut down the following week on Dec. Discovery, which was delivered to the Smithsonian in April, was powered down for a final time on Dec. "It is good that they are saving them as museum artifacts, but you have three vehicles that are still good flying machines going on a post or in a display case."Įndeavour was the last of NASA's retired shuttle fleet to go permanently dark. ![]() "The whole thing shutting down is a shame," Dan Brandenstein, Endeavour's first commander, told just a few hours after he visited his former spaceship last Saturday (May 5). commercial vehicles are planned to take over this taxi service by 2017. While the agency is currently using Russian spacecraft to transport its astronauts to low-Earth orbit, U.S. NASA retired its shuttle fleet in July 2011, and the remaining orbiters are all headed to museums. ![]()
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