One can hardly fathom that NASA has flown the space shuttle for three decades, and it’s almost equally unimaginable to conceive a space program without the familiar orbiter. But going away it is, likely as soon as July when the last flight ends.
That mission is STS 135, a 12-day flight targeted for a June 28 launch that will deliver crucial supplies to the now-complete International Space Station.
Put bluntly, the shuttle program’s end is a huge deal. The program has left an indelible mark on the Houston community, where hundreds of astronauts have trained, and where thousands upon thousands of people have worked to support the flight of these orbiters.
Economically, it may mean the loss of up to 8,000 jobs for our area. As importantly, the shuttle’s retirement will leave NASA without its own means to launch astronauts into space. In the short term that means reliance on Russian partners, and in the longer term it’s unclear whether commercial providers or NASA itself will launch the next U.S. rockets that can carry humans into orbit.
It may, therefore, be quite some time before NASA flies Houston-trained astronauts into space. Which brings us back to the program’s historic final flight this summer.
To document this final flight the Chronicle has obtained unparalleled access to the crew of STS-135 — Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim. We’re going to follow them closely as they prepare for their mission.
Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Smiley Pool will spend time every week with the crew to capture photos of their preparation. As I write this today he is at Ames Research Center in Northern California as the astronauts work in the vertical motion simulator.
In conjunction with Smiley’s photos, I will provide updates about the final mission on this blog, which will be dedicated to the last flight of Atlantis. So join us right here on this blog for an unmatched glimpse into the life of astronauts at the end of an era.