STS-135: July 2011 Archives

At 5:57:54 a.m EDT the orbiter Atlantis came to a wheels stop at the Kennedy Space Center runway 15 marking the end of the Space Shuttle era.

Early Tuesday morning Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station, the last time an orbiter will do that. On Thursday morning at 5:56 a.m EDT Atlantis will land at the Kennedy Space Center marking the end of an era, the Space Shuttle era.

With a 70% chance of a weather violation the Space Shuttle Atlantis beat the odds and thrilled close to a million gathered people who waited hours to see the final launch of a Space Shuttle. (Video of launch available)

While everything is proceeding smoothly at this point in the countdown the weather is still an issue with "thick clouds" being the current problem. The White Room has just been closed out after the astronauts were securely fastened into the shuttle.