Overview
"Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, its place in history secured, the Shuttle pulls into port for the last time. Its voyage, at an end." - Rob Navias, NASA commentator. After a storied 30 year career, Atlantis brought the Space Shuttle Program to a successful close with her 33rd and final mission. The four-person crew delivered thousands of kilograms of supplies to the International Space Station. Before leaving, the Atlantis crew left a small American flag behind for the first crew of a then yet-to-be determined commercial crew vehicle to retrieve and bring home. With Atlantis' landing, the U.S. voluntarily gave up the ability to launch humans to space, triggering the longest stand-down in U.S. human launch operations lasting 8 years and 10 months. NASA, ESA, Japan, and Canada were subsequently forced to rely on a single Russian rocket and spacecraft to ferry all crew to and from the ISS until 2020. Atlantis landed for the final time on July 21st, 2011. Over a 26-year career, Atlantis spent 306 days in space, traveled 202,673,974 km, and carried 207 crewmembers. Twenty-two of her 33 missions were international in nature, making Atlantis the most international launch and landing spacecraft in history.