Space Shuttle Project: Atlantis
By: collin moss
Important dates and info
First launch: October 3-7, 1985
Last launch: July 8-21, 2011
Date it Atlantis was first brought to Kennedy Space Center: April 13, 1985
Number of missions: 33
Crew members: 14,563
Weight and cost
The Space Shuttle weighed 165,000 pounds empty. Its external tank weighed 78,100 pounds empty and its two solid rocket boosters weighed 185,000 pounds empty each. Each solid rocket booster held 1.1 million pounds of fuel.
It cost about 1.7 billion dollars to build and launch
Why Atlantis?!?!
Reson for retirement
NASA had planned to withdraw Atlantis from service in 2008, as the orbiter would have been due to undergo its third scheduled OMDP. However, because of the final retirement of the shuttle fleet in 2010, this was deemed uneconomical. It was planned that Atlantiswould be kept in near-flight condition to be used as a part hulk for Discovery and Endeavour. However, with the significant planned flight schedule up to 2010, the decision was taken to extend the time between OMDPs, allowing Atlantis to be retained for operations. Atlantis had been swapped for one flight of each Discovery and Endeavour in the current flight manifest. Atlantis had completed what was meant to be its last flight, STS-132, prior to the end of the shuttle program,[