Tag: space shuttle

Space Shuttle Endeavour last leg

The space shuttle Endeavour was retired last week, and is being transported to a museum in Los Angeles (LA). For the last 12 miles, it was actually transported through LA roads.

Just imagine the awesome publicity that Toyota got. The da** trucked pulled the entire shuttle. For those folks, who do not live in the U.S, the Tundra is a pick-up truck that some normal people use as a ‘car’, for commuting to office etc.

And oh yeah, the Donut shop got a ton of publicity as well.

The above picture is from the The Atlantic. View the full set of pictures here.

The Discovery’s Last Ride

I remember my visit to the Kennedy Space  Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. I remember to have just gaped at the space shuttle models and the launch pads and just thought in amazement of the number of times, this beauty has made ‘out-of-this-world’ trips — 133 to be precise!

R.I.P Discovery. I am sure Smithsonian will take as good care of you as the NASA guys did.

(via MarySue)

Shuttle family photo

An apparently rare occasion caught on film.

Shown in the foreground is Space Shuttle Atlantis on Launch Pad A. The shuttle in the background is Endeavour, on Launch Pad B. Currently, both shuttles are locked and loaded for launch, should something go wrong up in space with the October 11 Atlantis mission. As Tom explains over at his Astronomy Blog, having two shuttles on the pad at the same time is rare, but it is not a cause for concern. When the ISS is not available for rescue purposes, as it might not be for this mission, a second shuttle is made ready for a quick launch. What is sobering, however, is this image is potentially the last of its kind. The space shuttle program is scheduled for retirement in 2010, leaving little chance for similar shuttle family photos in the future.

[gizmodo.com]