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STS-133 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-129 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-129 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-131 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-120 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-129 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-132
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - As Space Shuttle Columbia hurtles into the pre-dawn sky on mission STS-109, its brilliant exhaust illuminates the clouds of smoke and steam and spreads across the nearby water. Liftoff of Columbia occurred at 6:22:02:08 a.m. EST (11:22:02:08 GMT). This was the 27th flight of the vehicle and 108th in the history of the Shuttle program. The goal of the mission is the maintenance and upgrade of the Hubble Space Telescope, to be carried out in five spacewalks. The crew comprises Commander Scott D. Altman, Pilot Duane G. Carey, Payload Commander John M. Grunsfeld, and Mission Specialists Nancy Jane Currie, Richard M. Linnehan, James H. Newman and Michael J. Massimino. After the 11-day mission, Columbia is expected to return to KSC March 12 about 4:35 a.m. EST (09:35 GMT) KSC-02pp0236
STS-127 - LAUNCH - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Bare branches frame the liftoff of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-106 to the International Space Station. Billows of smoke and steam are illuminated by the flames of the solid rocket boosters. The perfect on-time liftoff of Atlantis occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00pp1265
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Filling the ground with billows of smoke and steam created by the flaming solid rocket boosters, Space Shuttle Atlantis speeds toward space on mission STS-106. The perfect on-time liftoff occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00pd1263
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- A perfect launch sends Space Shuttle Atlantis, leaving a trail of flames and billows of smoke and clouds behind, hurtling toward space on mission STS-106. Liftoff occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT today. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00padig032
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis’s solid rocket boosters trail brilliant flames that light up the clouds of smoke and steam and reflect in the waters Launch Pad 39B at launch. The perfect on-time liftoff of Atlantis on mission STS-106 occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00pp1270
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis appears to burst forth from a cocoon of smoke as it rockets toward space on mission STS-106. The perfect on-time liftoff of Atlantis occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00pp1267
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- After a perfect on-time launch on mission STS-106 at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT, Space Shuttle Atlantis rolls and displays its external tank and solid rocket boosters. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00padig035
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Columns of flame spew from the solid rocket boosters hurling Space Shuttle Atlantis toward space on mission STS-106. The on-time liftoff occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT for the start of an 11-day mission to the International Space Station. While on board, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00pd1262
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- A perfect on-time launch for Atlantis as it rockets toward space on mission STS-106. Liftoff occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC-00pp1570
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis rises from a cocoon of smoke as it rockets toward space on mission STS-106. The perfect on-time liftoff of Atlantis occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC00pp1571
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Bare branches frame the liftoff of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-106 to the International Space Station. Billows of smoke and steam are illuminated by the flames of the solid rocket boosters. The perfect on-time liftoff of Atlantis occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19 KSC00pp1265
Summary
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Bare branches frame the liftoff of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-106 to the International Space Station. Billows of smoke and steam are illuminated by the flames of the solid rocket boosters. The perfect on-time liftoff of Atlantis occurred at 8:45:47 a.m. EDT. On the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. Landing of Atlantis is targeted for 4:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 19
The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.
Space Shuttle Atlantis was a space shuttle that was operated by NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program. It was the fourth operational shuttle built, and the last one to be built before the program was retired in 2011. Atlantis was named after the first research vessel operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and it made its first flight in October 1985. Over the course of its career, Atlantis completed 33 missions and spent a total of 307 days in space. Its last mission was STS-135, which was the final mission of the Space Shuttle program. Atlantis is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104) was one of the four first operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. (The other two are Discovery and Endeavour.) Atlantis was the fourth operational shuttle built. Atlantis is named after a two-masted sailing ship that operated from 1930 to 1966 for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Atlantis performed well in 25 years of service, flying 33 missions.