However, NASA plans to continue operating the orbiting outpost until at least 2020, and mission managers won't rule out the possibility that future additions to the station could be planned. "We hope to take some spectacular photos while we're out there."Īfter the AMS is installed, NASA will have no major pieces of new hardware to attach to the International Space Station, which is now officially complete from a U.S. "I'm just really excited to be able to go outside with Greg and Mike and share some great experiences and get some amazing views," said Feustel, who was also on the spacewalking team during NASA's final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008. Mission specialists Fincke, Feustel and Chamitoff will conduct those excursions.
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No spacewalks are planned for that mission, making STS-134 the last time space shuttle astronauts will ever perform a spacewalk at the station. From a program standpoint it looks like we're going to go fly that mission."Ītlantis will carry four astronauts and a huge haul of spare parts to the space station. "It looks like the budget is lined up to support that mission," said John Shannon, NASA space shuttle program manager. The STS-135 mission of the shuttle Atlantis is slated to launch June 28, as long as NASA receives the necessary funding. "Of course the last flight of each of these vehicles is bittersweet for all of us," said Gary Horlacher, the lead flight director for Endeavour's STS-134 mission."Certainly it's going to be a bittersweet moment to see it back on the runway" after it lands at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.Īfter Endeavour's STS-134 mission, NASA has just one more space shuttle flight planned. NASA administrator Charles Bolden plans to announce where the three space shuttle orbiters will be retired April 12. In addition to the AMS, Endeavour will also carry a container of spare hardware and science experiments to help the space station continue running smoothly after the space shuttles retire.Įndeavour will be prepared for permanent display at a museum after it returns to Earth from its final mission. "We're just looking forward to seeing what it shows." "It's going to be facing out into the heavens and see what it can see," Fincke said. Johnson, who piloted Endeavour on the orbiter's STS-123 mission in March 2008 mission specialists Michael Fincke, who has served two long-duration stints living and working onboard the International Space Station Greg Chamitoff, who has logged a total of 183 days in space Andrew Feustel, who was a member of the shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission in May 2009 and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, who has flown twice before to the space station.Įndeavour's primary payload is a science experiment called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a particle detector 16 years in the making that will analyze particles called cosmic rays for what they can tell us about the origins and makeup of the universe.
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Riding along with Kelly on Endeavour's STS-134 mission are pilot Gregory H. I've given this mission everything I would have if the events of January had not happened." "Having that experience certainly makes it very manageable to be able to handle what's going on in my personal life and handle this mission. "I think it would have been really challenging if this was my first shuttle flight," Kelly said. He said today that she has been improving every day and credited his experience as a veteran of three space missions for helping him get through the grueling training schedule.
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Kelly made the difficult decision in February to resume training with his crew and push on with the mission despite his wife's injury.