Final Space Shuttle launch tonight - Fri 8th July 11.26pm

starfinder · Post by **starfinder** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:34 pm

Here is a late reminder, the launch of the very final and last Space Shuttle mission is scheduled to take place tonight, Fri 8 July 2011 at 11.26pm Singapore time (which is UTC + 8).

The launch is of course subject to weather conditions and technical issues. The latest status may be found here:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shutt ... index.html

As of now, the latest update with about 3 hrs 52 mins to go is as follows:
Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts are donning their orange launch-and-entry suits in crew quarters and are set to depart at 7:36 a.m. EDT for Launch Pad 39A. The crew will begin boarding Atlantis at 8:06 a.m.

Inside the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch team continues to closely monitor the weather. The forecast remains 30 percent "go" with a concern for showers and thunderstorms within 20 nautical miles of the Shuttle Landing Facility, flight through precipitation, and cumulus clouds. Liftoff time is 11:26 a.m. Teams are not working any issues that would delay the launch of Atlantis on mission STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.

It would likely be covered live by the major news channels, e.g. BBC, CNN, Fox News, CNBC. You could probably also get a live stream on the NASA TV website:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

I can actually remember watching the launch and landing of the very first one all those years ago, that of the Columbia. And also waking up one day in Jan 1986 to the news on the radio that the Challenger had exploded.

Sigh... end of an era. I really like the Space Shuttle.

jimmyleong · Post by **jimmyleong** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:44 pm

So no more manned mission?

starfinder · Post by **starfinder** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:34 pm

No more manned missions by the USA for the next few years.

But Russia will still continue, plus China.

starfinder · Post by **starfinder** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:18 pm

This official NASA channel on Ustream seems to have better video, and is more 'live', i.e. less delay than the NASA TV site:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv

Post by **rcj** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:14 pm

few minutes more to lift off!

jimmyleong · Post by **jimmyleong** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:21 pm

it's the final countdown....

li.peng · Post by **li.peng** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:34 pm

successful liftoff.

Post by **Airconvent** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:02 am

so sad...If only Singapore managed to get hold of the Enterprise for iour Musuem when the whole fleet retires. It may not have flown in space but its the very first shuttle and its named after my favourite sci-fi series. [smilie=crying3.gif]

starfinder · Post by **starfinder** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 12:33 am

It was a flawless launch! (except for a minor hiccup at T minus 31 secs)

Imagine, this won't be seen again, ever.

Let's try to watch Atlantis fly over the Singapore region as a little white dot in the next 12 days, as it docks with the Int'l Space Station:

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummar ... 1&tz=MALST

There should be a fairly good flyover on Mon 11th at around 8pm (see details in above link).

kensou · Post by **kensou** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 3:23 am

which direction should we be looking at? and how to spot??