End of an Era

And so ends the era of the Shuttle in Space Exploration.  Hopefully this is not the end of the space program for our nation.  There are still "strange new worlds, new life-forms, new civilizations" and somewhere deep inside we are driven to "go where no man has gone before".

Photos from final flight of space shuttle

from EarthSky Blogs by Deborah Byrd

NASA’s space shuttle program came to an end at 5:56 a.m. EDT (9:56 UTC) on July 21, 2011 when Atlantis touched down safely at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Here are a few photos from Atlantis’ memorable final flight into space.

Image Credit: NASA

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Atlantis sits docked with the ISS in this photo taken by astronaut Mike Fossum aboard the space station.

Image Credit: NASA

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Atlantis departs the ISS on July 18, 2011 – a space station solar panel can be seen in the foreground

Image Credit: NASA

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An Atlantis crew member took this image of the International Space Station shortly after the shuttle departed the station on July 19, 2011.

Image Credit: NASA

The Atlantis crew wave farewell at the end of the last crew news conference from aboard the shuttle on July 20, 2011.

Image Credit: NASA

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Final landing of a space shuttle – Space Shuttle Atlantis, mission STS-135 – at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, 2011.