Space Shuttle Atlantis is the last of the shuttle fleet to dock with the International Space Station. STS-135 is the final mission of the Space Shuttle Program, which flew it’s first mission 30 years ago.

Shuttle Atlantis and it’s four crew members are scheduled to make their first landing attempt at the Kennedy Space Center this Thursday.

NASA.gov

NASAtelevision

The Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) archive contains the largest collection of annotated astronomical images on the internet.

APOD is originated, written, coordinated, and edited since 1995 by Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell.

Astronomy Picture of the Day @ apod.nasa.gov/

Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking is an epic new kind of cosmology series, a Planet Earth of the heavens. It takes the world’s most famous scientific mind and sets it free, powered by the limitless possibilities of computer animation.

Hawking gives us the ultimate guide to the universe, a ripping yarn based on real science, spanning the whole of space and time; from the nature of the universe itself, to the chances of alien life, and the real possibility of time travel.

There are some truly mind-blowing video clips of the show at
dsc.discovery.com/tv/

The Official Website for Professor Stephen W. Hawking at hawking.org.uk

So here are a collection of links to NASA resources, which can also be found on the main website NASA.gov.

Information on NASA programs is available at the NASA Public Affairs Home Page

NASA TV information has schedules and links to streaming video.

NASA Television Schedule features key mission events and media briefings during the mission.

Status reports and timely updates on launch countdown, mission progress, and landing operations will be posted at: nasa.gov/shuttle

Information on the International Space Station is available at: nasa.gov/station

The NASA Human Space Flight Web contains an up-to-date archive of mission imagery, video and audio.

Information on safety enhancements for the 2005 Return to Flight effort.

Resources for Educators

Launch of space shuttle Discovery has been delayed due to a leak in the ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) at Launch Pad 39A, which prompted a scrub of Friday’s launch attempt.

STS-133 mission managers also will look at a crack in the external tank foam that developed as supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were being drained from the tank, although the crack didn’t develop until after the launch attempt was called off.

Discovery’s six astronauts have left the Kennedy Space Center in their T-38 jets to return home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Discovery’s next possible launch opportunity comes up on November 30th at 4:05 a.m. EST. This will be the final voyage for the orbiter.

More space shuttle news and information at nasa.gov/

The shuttle weather team is carefully watching a cold front moving through Florida, that could impact the final launch of space shuttle Discovery. There’s about a 50 percent chance the shuttle will lift off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, November 5th.

Friday’s tentative launch time is 3:04 p.m. EDT. The shuttle team meets at 5:00 am Friday morning to make a final assessment of the weather conditions at the cape, before giving a “go” or “no-go” decision to fill Discovery’s external fuel tank.

Photo Credit: NASA TV

If Discovery launches Friday, the shuttle’s schedule will be as follows:

Docking @ International Space Station 10:55 a.m. EST Sunday Nov. 7th
Spacewalk 1 Tuesday Nov. 9th
Spacewalk 2 Thursday Nov. 11th
Undocking @ 4:21 a.m. Sunday Nov. 14th
Earth Landing @ Kennedy Space Center @ 9:16 a.m. Tuesday Nov. 16th

More space shuttle news and information at nasa.gov

A twin Robonaut is packed inside space shuttle Discovery to be taken to the International Space Station. The humanoid robot is the first to go into space, and will act as an assistant to the crew on the orbiting laboratory.

Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

More space shuttle news and information at nasa.gov/

Discovery’s final spaceflight is scheduled to last 11 days, which includes two scheduled spacewalks. It’s the 39th flight for the space shuttle, which has flown more times than any other orbiter in NASA’s shuttle fleet.

This last mission is known as STS-133; it’s crew members will carry several important components to the International Space Station, such as the Italian-built Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM,) and the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4,) that will provide spare parts and storage capacity to the ISS.

Discovery also will deliver Robonaut 2, which will become the first humanoid robot in space. For now, the primary job for R2 is teaching engineers how dexterous robots behave in space.

Robonaut 2 will be installed in the U.S. Destiny laboratory, providing scientists and engineers on the ground and crews on the station an opportunity to test how humans and human-like robots can work shoulder-to shoulder in microgravity.

Through upgrades and advancements, R2 could one day venture outside the space station to help spacewalkers make repairs or additions to the station or perform scientific work. This will help NASA understand robotic capabilities for future deep space missions.

Nearly 150 experiments are continuing aboard the space station as the transition from assembly work to expanded research on the international laboratory progresses. They span the basic categories of biological and biotechnology, human research, physical and materials sciences, technology development, Earth and space science and educational activities.

More info at nasa.gov/

NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope on April 24th, 1990. Since then we’ve discovered things that we never even imagined, and seen light from distant galaxies and stars billions of years old.

Named for groundbreaking astronomer Edwin Hubble, the Hubble Space Telescope has helped astronomers prove the existence of black holes, dark energy, and defined the age of the universe.

NASA celebrates 20 years of amazing astronomical discoveries with the Hubble Space Telescope with an interactive showcase of incredible images of our universe.

NASA has also announced the extension of the Hubble Space Telescope Science Operations Contract through April 2013, which will extend science operations with the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy for the Hubble Space Telescope Science Operations Center located at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.