Cool Pic Archive Pages
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These images have been chosen for their uniqueness. Subject matter ranges from
historic events, to really cool phenomena in science and engineering, to relevant
place, to ingenious contraptions, to interesting products (which now has its own
dedicated Featured Product
category).
RF Cafe visitor and
RF Coffee Mug
winner Jeff J. sent me these photos he took of the
Space Shuttle Atlantis' final landing at Cape Canaveral at 5:57
a.m. EDT on July 21, 2011.
 "Space
shuttle Atlantis carried the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver
supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. The mission
also flew a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing
spacecraft and returned a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand
the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems."
Alas, this is the final flight of the five-craft Space Shuttle program, which
commenced on 12 April, 1981 and totaled 135 missions (Columbia and Challenger were
lost). America has no replacement system in the queue. Prior to the shuttle fleet,
the Apollo series ran from February 21, 1967 with Apollo 1 (a fire killed the crew
on the launch pad) through the splashdown of Apollo 17 on December 19, 1972. We
landed two men on the moon at the Sea of Tranquility with
Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969 (eventually a total of 12). At least
during that 9-year void of manned space flight, there was a replacement vehicle
in the works (delayed from March 1978). Now, we have no national manned launch vehicle
on the books. NASA director Bolden remarked on
Al Jazeera
TV that the organization is now most concerned with teaching math and science to
kids, international relations, and reaching out to Muslims. Not to worry though,
at least NASA has the "Mission to Planet Earth" - we don't need no stinking launch vehicle
for that. Ugh.
 Space Shuttle Atlantis Being Towed After
Final Landing
 Space Shuttle Atlantis Near VAB
Launch Pad A at Kennedy Space Flight
Center |
 Vehicle Assembly Building
 NASA Employees Awaiting Atlantis
Camera Platform with Infrared, High
Speed, Still, and High Definition Cameras |
Posted August 1, 2011
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