STS-132 (Atlantis)
STS-132 (Atlantis)
Launch Date
May 14, 2010
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
6
STS-132 (Atlantis)
STS-132 (Atlantis)
Launch Date
May 14, 2010
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
6
Overview
Space Shuttle Atlantis' six-person crew delivered the Russian Mini Research Module, Rassvet, to the International Space Station as well as 1,913 kg of external spare parts. This was originally Atlantis' final flight. Eight months after this mission ended, NASA added one more flight to the Space Shuttle program and assigned Atlantis to fly what would ultimately become the Shuttle program's final voyage. As such, this flight is lovingly referred to as "The first last flight of Atlantis." The crew signed their names on a locker in Atlantis, believing it to be her final flight. NASA instructed all crews on pending final Space Shuttle flights to not repeat this crew's actions. The signatures, however, were never removed.
Crafts
Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.