The Final Space Shuttle Voyage by Atlantis

Credit NASA

The final chapter of the Atlantis space shuttle and of all of the space shuttles which have been in operation for over 30 years.

Atlantis’ maiden flight was October 3rd 1988.  On board science experiments was the order of the day.  Most of Atlantis missions where for space research, during Low Earth Orbits.

During the first seven missions, Atlantis flew to dock with the Russian Space Station MIR.  When Atlantis docked with MIR, they formed the largest space craft in orbit at that time.  Atlantis was also the first space shuttle on Orbit U.S Crew Exchanges, which is now a very common occurrence on the International Space Station.  Atlantis’ fourth mission was to ferry Astronaut Shannon Lucid back to Earth, after a record of 188 days in orbit at the Russian Space Station MIR.  Vital components were also delivered to the space station at that time.

Atlantis’ final space shuttle launch was on the 8th July 2011, which is the end of 30 years of the space shuttle domination.  Four astronauts were the crew for this final mission.  The space shuttle commander was Chris Ferguson, the pilot Doug Hurley with mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Dex Walheim.

Their mission was to deliver 8,000 pounds of supplies and spare parts which will keep the space station operational after the space shuttles are retired from service.

Ferguson quoted before the final lift off of Atlantis’ 

“WE ARE NOT ENDING THE JOURNEY TODAY – WE’RE COMPLETING A CHAPTER OF A JOURNEY THAT WILL NEVER END.”

The Horror of the Challenger

Credit NASA

.

In the late 1970s Challenger was built as a test vehicle for the space program.  Even though it was built as a test module it was always destined to go into space.

NASA was looking for a lighter space shuttle, as Columbia was so heavy and restricted in what it could actually do in space.  The only thing was the tests performed on it had to be vigorous to make sure a lighter structure could actually cope with space flight.

Computers were not as advanced in the 1970′s as they are today, so no one could envisage how a lighter craft would be able to cope with intense heat and stress.  So to test the shuttle, NASA had to put it through thermal testing and vibrational testing to see how it would hold up under intense heat, this process had to be done for a whole year.

NASA then gave the contract to a firm called Rockwell for them to convert Challenger to be able to go into Space.  This was a major process, which many replacements of parts and components had to be done to get it ready as a space shuttle to go into outer space.

Challenger arrived at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in July 1982, ready for space travel.  Challenger surprisingly was named after the British Naval Research Vessel, HMS Challenger, a ship that sailed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during the 1870′s.  The Apollo 17 Lunar Module was also called Challenger.  The crew made scientific contributions for exploration.

Tragedy of the Columbia Space Shuttle

Credit NASA

The Columbia was the first reusable space shuttle in the orbit fleet.  On April 12th 1981 Columbia took its first flight, the sky was clear blue for its maiden launch.  Columbia was named after the 1st American vessel to circle Earth.

Out of all the Space Shuttle’s, Columbia was the heaviest, which caused it to have limitations and what it could actually do.  It also didn’t have the necessary equipment to assist in the building of the International Space Station.  Even though it had its limitations Columbia done a lot of scientific research and also was the first shuttle into space.  Columbia took off from the Kennedy Space Centre.

The Columbia was used for a total of 28 flights, which took a total of 300 days 17 Hours 40 minutes and 22 seconds.  Columbia also orbited Earth 4808 times within its history.

Surprisingly out of all the other shuttles, Columbia had one of the longest flights on record.  The longest flight took 17 days 15 hours 53 minutes and 18 seconds

Shuttle was it worth it

The testing of the first manned space shuttle was on August 12th 1977.The shuttle used for this was the Enterprise, so perhaps we should have said “Beam me up Scotty” and not “Houston we have a problem”. This was manned by two astronauts and the flight time was 5 minutes.  The landing site for these test flights was Edwards Air force Base in California.

Altogether Enterprise performed 5 of these test flights and surprisingly 3 of these were for 5 minutes and the other two was for 2 minutes.  Wasn’t worth the effort, by the time they got off the ground it would have been time to land.

NASA’S space shuttle fleets first launch was on April 12th 1981.  The first space shuttle was called Columbia then there was Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.  There have been many astronauts on the shuttle which have launched, recovered and repaired the satellites in outer space.

They have conducted research and built the largest International Space Station ever thought possible.  The shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft of its kind.

The following table shows the shuttle name, number of flights that they completed, the number of days they were on their missions, number of orbits they performed.  It also shows the longest flight that they had at one time.  Truly amazing when you think that it was such a pipe dream over 50 years ago.  How far we have become as humans and how much technology and brilliance we have at this present time.

Travel to Germany

Author :Cadkinsca

We have visited to German Once to Erlangen is very nice city. and there is beautiful places to go. and we saw people from different country there. I thing its completely different foods between Our foods. we been cinema couple of times. we been couple of big Super Markets there was very expensive prices. we had good time in night clubs.  and We been doing bulling and anther Games as well. and one week we stayed in the hotel. Our favorite place it was magical place for us the area call Juhann Kalb.

Travel to Swissland

Author JoeDuck

We have visited once to Swissland,  We been two different cities the first city was called Bern. We went to the long river and We been couple of magical places.  We had good  time in cinema and night clubs. We been some nice beach area for swim. I thing the city was very small and quiet as well. We was stayed for one week in that’s city and also We been anther city called Brig there was a big mountains and beautiful places we went to cinema couple times and night clubs  there was very expensive prices for every things. We saw many people from around different country there that’s way We liked and Our favorite time was night out.

Travel to Turkey

Author watchsmart

I have visited  Turkey twice. Once to Istanbul and also we visited Intalia.  Istanbul is very nice. and the weather is beautiful.  We went down to the beach and went into the sea for a swim. We enjoyed the Turkish food, there was different food call beryani, dulma, cofta, tikka, kebab, rice and many different soups and sauces. and their cuisine outstanding and the prices are cheap.  and everyone dream of holiday.  Turkey is magical place with history and culture.  We went to zoo, couple of little mountains, cinema, and night clubs as well. and we saw people from different country there I thing every one was very happy and enjoyed their holiday.  The hotel we stayed in was called the Darya hotel and we had no Problems in the three weeks we stayed there.  Our favorite place we visited was called Taksim which is in Istanbul.