Home at last: Atlantis makes historic final landing as Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme comes to a glorious end

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Home, and job done: Commander Chris Ferguson, right, shakes hands with pilot Doug Hurley after Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. To their left are crew members Sandra Mangus and Rex Walheim

Atlantis made the perfect landing as dawn broke this morning, gliding down on to the tarmac at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral to bring to an end 30 years of shuttle missions.

It the 135th mission for the fleet, which has covered an astonishing 542 million miles and circled Earth 21,150 times.

And considering this accomplishment, none of the record 2,000 gathered by the landing strip to witness the historic spectacle was complaining that Atlantis was precisely one minute late.

The five shuttles have carried 355 people from 16 countries - and here were the last four astronauts safely home to cheers and tears.

As Commander Christopher Ferguson eased Atlantis on to the runway, he radioed: 'Mission complete, Houston'.

'Job well done, America,' replied Mission Control.



A final stop: Commander Ferguson checks one of Atlantis' chocks and right, addresses the crowds who gathered to watch the historic landing


Incoming: Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson gently steers the 100-ton spaceship high overhead, then nose-dives toward the swamp-surrounded landing strip


Touchdown: Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center one minute behind schedule at 5.57am (10.57am BST) today, bringing to an end Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme


Ferguson added: 'After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle's earned its place in history. And it's come to a final stop,' radioed commander Christopher Ferguson.

The twilight landing, just before dawn, came exactly 30 years and three months after the very first shuttle flight in 1981.

It will be another three to five years at best before Americans are launched again from U.S. soil, with private companies gearing up to seize the Earth-to-orbit-and-back baton from Nasa.


Final farewell: Hundreds of spectators gathered near the runway to welcome Atlantis home - and to bid Nasa's space shuttle programme goodbye


The long-term future for American space exploration is just as hazy, a huge concern for many at NASA and all those losing their jobs because of the shuttle's end.

Asteroids and Mars are the destinations of choice, yet NASA has yet to settle on a rocket design to get astronauts there.

Today, though, belonged to Atlantis and its crew: Ferguson, co-pilot Douglas Hurley, Rex Walheim and Sandra Magnus, who completed a successful space station resupply mission.
Atlantis' main landing gears touched down at 5:57 a.m. (0957 GMT), with 'wheels stop' less than a minute later.

'The space shuttle has changed the way we view the world and it's changed the way we view our universe,' said Ferguson. 'There's a lot of emotion today, but one thing's indisputable. America's not going to stop exploring.


Atlantis' mission was to resupply the International Space Station, ending a 12-year programme to build and service the orbital research outpost



Atlantis comes to a standstill on the runway. Private companies will now take over trips to the ISS. Nasa's next stop with astronauts will be an asteroid, then Mars


Hugs and cheers inside Johnson Space Center's mission control as staff congratulate themselves on a job well done


NASA employee Jerry Davison, center, and his wife, Maureen, right, take photos, while colleague Sean Carter, right, watches with his family


Fingers crossed: Johnson Space Center employees Jeremy Rea, right, and Shelley Stortz hold hands


Homeward bound: An image of the ISS that was taken by an Atlantis crew member shortly after the shuttle departed the station on Tuesday and, right, docked with the space station



Last lift-off: Hundred of thousands of spectators watched blast-off at Cape Canaveral and millions tuned in to watch the crew chat to President Obama during the mission


NASA - PARTE 1.mp4


source :dailymail

Home at last: Atlantis makes historic final landing as Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme comes to a glorious end

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Home, and job done: Commander Chris Ferguson, right, shakes hands with pilot Doug Hurley after Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. To their left are crew members Sandra Mangus and Rex Walheim

Atlantis made the perfect landing as dawn broke this morning, gliding down on to the tarmac at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral to bring to an end 30 years of shuttle missions.

It the 135th mission for the fleet, which has covered an astonishing 542 million miles and circled Earth 21,150 times.

And considering this accomplishment, none of the record 2,000 gathered by the landing strip to witness the historic spectacle was complaining that Atlantis was precisely one minute late.

The five shuttles have carried 355 people from 16 countries - and here were the last four astronauts safely home to cheers and tears.

As Commander Christopher Ferguson eased Atlantis on to the runway, he radioed: 'Mission complete, Houston'.

'Job well done, America,' replied Mission Control.



A final stop: Commander Ferguson checks one of Atlantis' chocks and right, addresses the crowds who gathered to watch the historic landing


Incoming: Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson gently steers the 100-ton spaceship high overhead, then nose-dives toward the swamp-surrounded landing strip


Touchdown: Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center one minute behind schedule at 5.57am (10.57am BST) today, bringing to an end Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme


Ferguson added: 'After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle's earned its place in history. And it's come to a final stop,' radioed commander Christopher Ferguson.

The twilight landing, just before dawn, came exactly 30 years and three months after the very first shuttle flight in 1981.

It will be another three to five years at best before Americans are launched again from U.S. soil, with private companies gearing up to seize the Earth-to-orbit-and-back baton from Nasa.


Final farewell: Hundreds of spectators gathered near the runway to welcome Atlantis home - and to bid Nasa's space shuttle programme goodbye


The long-term future for American space exploration is just as hazy, a huge concern for many at NASA and all those losing their jobs because of the shuttle's end.

Asteroids and Mars are the destinations of choice, yet NASA has yet to settle on a rocket design to get astronauts there.

Today, though, belonged to Atlantis and its crew: Ferguson, co-pilot Douglas Hurley, Rex Walheim and Sandra Magnus, who completed a successful space station resupply mission.
Atlantis' main landing gears touched down at 5:57 a.m. (0957 GMT), with 'wheels stop' less than a minute later.

'The space shuttle has changed the way we view the world and it's changed the way we view our universe,' said Ferguson. 'There's a lot of emotion today, but one thing's indisputable. America's not going to stop exploring.


Atlantis' mission was to resupply the International Space Station, ending a 12-year programme to build and service the orbital research outpost



Atlantis comes to a standstill on the runway. Private companies will now take over trips to the ISS. Nasa's next stop with astronauts will be an asteroid, then Mars


Hugs and cheers inside Johnson Space Center's mission control as staff congratulate themselves on a job well done


NASA employee Jerry Davison, center, and his wife, Maureen, right, take photos, while colleague Sean Carter, right, watches with his family


Fingers crossed: Johnson Space Center employees Jeremy Rea, right, and Shelley Stortz hold hands


Homeward bound: An image of the ISS that was taken by an Atlantis crew member shortly after the shuttle departed the station on Tuesday and, right, docked with the space station



Last lift-off: Hundred of thousands of spectators watched blast-off at Cape Canaveral and millions tuned in to watch the crew chat to President Obama during the mission


NASA - PARTE 1.mp4


source :dailymail

Home at last: Atlantis makes historic final landing as Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme comes to a glorious end

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Home, and job done: Commander Chris Ferguson, right, shakes hands with pilot Doug Hurley after Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. To their left are crew members Sandra Mangus and Rex Walheim

Atlantis made the perfect landing as dawn broke this morning, gliding down on to the tarmac at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral to bring to an end 30 years of shuttle missions.

It the 135th mission for the fleet, which has covered an astonishing 542 million miles and circled Earth 21,150 times.

And considering this accomplishment, none of the record 2,000 gathered by the landing strip to witness the historic spectacle was complaining that Atlantis was precisely one minute late.

The five shuttles have carried 355 people from 16 countries - and here were the last four astronauts safely home to cheers and tears.

As Commander Christopher Ferguson eased Atlantis on to the runway, he radioed: 'Mission complete, Houston'.

'Job well done, America,' replied Mission Control.



A final stop: Commander Ferguson checks one of Atlantis' chocks and right, addresses the crowds who gathered to watch the historic landing


Incoming: Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson gently steers the 100-ton spaceship high overhead, then nose-dives toward the swamp-surrounded landing strip


Touchdown: Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center one minute behind schedule at 5.57am (10.57am BST) today, bringing to an end Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme


Ferguson added: 'After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle's earned its place in history. And it's come to a final stop,' radioed commander Christopher Ferguson.

The twilight landing, just before dawn, came exactly 30 years and three months after the very first shuttle flight in 1981.

It will be another three to five years at best before Americans are launched again from U.S. soil, with private companies gearing up to seize the Earth-to-orbit-and-back baton from Nasa.


Final farewell: Hundreds of spectators gathered near the runway to welcome Atlantis home - and to bid Nasa's space shuttle programme goodbye


The long-term future for American space exploration is just as hazy, a huge concern for many at NASA and all those losing their jobs because of the shuttle's end.

Asteroids and Mars are the destinations of choice, yet NASA has yet to settle on a rocket design to get astronauts there.

Today, though, belonged to Atlantis and its crew: Ferguson, co-pilot Douglas Hurley, Rex Walheim and Sandra Magnus, who completed a successful space station resupply mission.
Atlantis' main landing gears touched down at 5:57 a.m. (0957 GMT), with 'wheels stop' less than a minute later.

'The space shuttle has changed the way we view the world and it's changed the way we view our universe,' said Ferguson. 'There's a lot of emotion today, but one thing's indisputable. America's not going to stop exploring.


Atlantis' mission was to resupply the International Space Station, ending a 12-year programme to build and service the orbital research outpost



Atlantis comes to a standstill on the runway. Private companies will now take over trips to the ISS. Nasa's next stop with astronauts will be an asteroid, then Mars


Hugs and cheers inside Johnson Space Center's mission control as staff congratulate themselves on a job well done


NASA employee Jerry Davison, center, and his wife, Maureen, right, take photos, while colleague Sean Carter, right, watches with his family


Fingers crossed: Johnson Space Center employees Jeremy Rea, right, and Shelley Stortz hold hands


Homeward bound: An image of the ISS that was taken by an Atlantis crew member shortly after the shuttle departed the station on Tuesday and, right, docked with the space station



Last lift-off: Hundred of thousands of spectators watched blast-off at Cape Canaveral and millions tuned in to watch the crew chat to President Obama during the mission


NASA - PARTE 1.mp4


source :dailymail

The Milky Way so close you can almost taste it: Breath-taking snaps of galaxy seen with the naked eye

By LEE MORAN


Stunning: Photographer Alex Cherney has dedicated his life's work to capturing the night sky as it is rarely seen by humans by using just an ordinary digital camera

A star-gazer has come a little bit closer to the final frontier - after spending 18 months photographing the night sky.

With just an ordinary digital camera, Alex Cherney turned thousands of snaps into an incredible time-lapse video of the cosmos.

Using long exposures to allow more light in, these breath-taking pictures from the southern tip of Australia demonstrate how he captured the dramatic way the sky changes at night.

The pictures show planets, shooting stars, the Milky Way, the Moon, satellites and planes as well as rolling clouds, changing tides and passing ships on the horizon.



Starry eyed: This shot by Alex Cherney shows star trails above Elephant Rock on the Mornington Peninsula in South Victoria



Crystal clear: Alex Cherney takes advantage of the lack of light pollution on the southern tip of Australia to capture incredibly detailed pictures of the cosmos



Magnificent: Alex Cherney's photographs show planets, shooting stars, and even the Milky Way - features that are rarely seen from the polluted skies of the Northern hemisphere


He also took advantage of the lack of light pollution from a remote peninsula on the south coast of Australia to record the dazzling scenes rarely seen from the polluted skies of the Northern hemisphere.

Alex, an IT consultant, spent six separate nights over 18 months shooting the sky - each with a new or crescent moon to ensure minimum interference from light.

His spectacular images were then edited into a two-and-a-half minute video, which has now beaten 250 entrants to win the prestigious Starmus astro-photography competition.



Dedicated: It consultant Alex Cherney spent six separate nights over 18 months shooting the sky



Award winning: Alex Cherney's spectacular images were edited into a video the prestigious Starmus astro-photography competition.


The 36-year-old father-of-two from Melbourne said: 'It was my daughter who got me into astronomy. She came home from school with a project and asked if we could find aliens, so we went along to a local astronomy club.

'I looked through a telescope for the first time and there was no going back - I was hooked. Two years later I took my first photo of the night sky. It's amazing to me that you can record the stars and colours in the sky so clearly - even more than with the naked eye.

'So much of our sky is disappearing due to excessive light pollution. Most people in developed countries wouldn't see anything like this when they look up.



Incredible: This stunning photograph taken from the southern tip of Australia shows a meteorite near the Milky Way


'In Australia we're fortunate in that we don't have to go far to get away from the city lights, and I hope my pictures will help other people realise what's really out there. For this, I went out whenever there was a new moon and good weather - six nights over the course of 18 months.

'I set my camera up to take a sequence of pictures, with each exposure of 30 seconds. I took around 1,000 pictures a night, and then I put them together to demonstrate how the sky moves in relation to our position on Earth.

'I don't see it as a finished product - it's definitely a work in progress and I hope to carry it on as long as I'm able to. I hope my work will show people this incredible sky they may never normally see.'



Beautiful: This picture shows the Moon and the Milky Way

source: dailymail

Let's light her up one last time! Atlantis overcomes a shaky launch to become the final Nasa shuttle to blast into space

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

One last hurrah: Atlantis blasts off for the International Space Station on Nasa's last space shuttle mission


The space shuttle Atlantis thundered into orbit today, writing the final chapter in a 30-year story of triumphs, tragedy and, ultimately, unfulfilled expectations.

A million-strong crowd crammed into Cape Canaveral surrounding towns to bid an emotional farewell to the shuttle as they watched it lift off on its 135th and final mission.

They lined causeways and beaches around the central Florida site, angling for a last glimpse of the pioneering ship that has defined the U.S. space program for the past 30 years.

While there were nervy moments as the countdown stalled for two minutes at 31 seconds while engineers fixed a problem with launch pad equipment - nothing could stop the historic lift off.

'Good luck to you and your crew on this final flight of this true American icon,' shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach radioed to the crew minutes before takeoff, adding: 'Have a little fun up there.'



Up, up and away: The shuttle almost didn't get off the ground though, as the giant countdown clock at Kennedy Space Center stuck at 0.31seconds for what seemed like



Just as the spectators at Cape Canaveral in Florida and tens of millions of television viewers around the world had given up hope, Atlantis began to rise



Off to the ISS: The shuttle was visible for 42 seconds before disappearing into the clouds



The final countdown: The shuttle lifts off as hundreds of fans watch a giant clock countdown with 13 seconds to go


Best view in the house: Some of an estimated one million spectators watch the launch


Emotional: Kennedy Space Centre employee Lisa Gorichky, right, cries as the shuttle lifts off while children watch from a nearby park


Fond farewell: The blast-off marks the beginning of the end for Nasa's shuttle programme


Soaring high: Thousands gather in the surf and on sand at Cocoa Beach, Florida to watch the shuttle pierce the clouds


Aerial view: The shuttle seen from a nearby Nasa aircraft as it lifts off. The plane subsequently flew through the remaining exhaust plume, left


One last time: The shuttle left a huge exhaust plume as it lifted off



No stopping now: A plume of smoke rises from the launch pad as Atlantis blasts into space


The final countdown: Commander Chris Ferguson gestures as he is strapped into his seat aboard Atlantis in footage screened on Nasa TV


Breakaway: Atlantis iseparates from its external fuel tank shortly after launch


Ready to roll: Atlantis crew members (from right to left) Commander Chris Ferguson, Rex Walheim, Doug Hurley and Sandra Magnus, head to shuttle Atlantis on launch pad 39-A for the final launch of the shuttle programme


Astrovan awaits: The astronauts wave to photographers before making the short journey to the launch pad





Hope: Nasa engineers fill Atlantis's tanks with rocket fuel this morning ahead of the shuttle's final flight



Lightning: A bolt struck about a third of a mile from Atlantis today. Nasa engineers didn't detect any damage


Wet: The Vehicle Assembly Building is seen through a window during a downpour at Space Center earlier today


Cover: Up to one million people are expected to try to watch the final shuttle launch live. Many are now ducking for cover in bad weather


Raincheck: A TV journalist is shielded by an umbrella as he reports from beside the launch pad


STS-135 Launch






source : dailymail