Home at last: Atlantis makes historic final landing as Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme comes to a glorious end

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Home, and job done: Commander Chris Ferguson, right, shakes hands with pilot Doug Hurley after Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. To their left are crew members Sandra Mangus and Rex Walheim

Atlantis made the perfect landing as dawn broke this morning, gliding down on to the tarmac at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral to bring to an end 30 years of shuttle missions.

It the 135th mission for the fleet, which has covered an astonishing 542 million miles and circled Earth 21,150 times.

And considering this accomplishment, none of the record 2,000 gathered by the landing strip to witness the historic spectacle was complaining that Atlantis was precisely one minute late.

The five shuttles have carried 355 people from 16 countries - and here were the last four astronauts safely home to cheers and tears.

As Commander Christopher Ferguson eased Atlantis on to the runway, he radioed: 'Mission complete, Houston'.

'Job well done, America,' replied Mission Control.



A final stop: Commander Ferguson checks one of Atlantis' chocks and right, addresses the crowds who gathered to watch the historic landing


Incoming: Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson gently steers the 100-ton spaceship high overhead, then nose-dives toward the swamp-surrounded landing strip


Touchdown: Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center one minute behind schedule at 5.57am (10.57am BST) today, bringing to an end Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme


Ferguson added: 'After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle's earned its place in history. And it's come to a final stop,' radioed commander Christopher Ferguson.

The twilight landing, just before dawn, came exactly 30 years and three months after the very first shuttle flight in 1981.

It will be another three to five years at best before Americans are launched again from U.S. soil, with private companies gearing up to seize the Earth-to-orbit-and-back baton from Nasa.


Final farewell: Hundreds of spectators gathered near the runway to welcome Atlantis home - and to bid Nasa's space shuttle programme goodbye


The long-term future for American space exploration is just as hazy, a huge concern for many at NASA and all those losing their jobs because of the shuttle's end.

Asteroids and Mars are the destinations of choice, yet NASA has yet to settle on a rocket design to get astronauts there.

Today, though, belonged to Atlantis and its crew: Ferguson, co-pilot Douglas Hurley, Rex Walheim and Sandra Magnus, who completed a successful space station resupply mission.
Atlantis' main landing gears touched down at 5:57 a.m. (0957 GMT), with 'wheels stop' less than a minute later.

'The space shuttle has changed the way we view the world and it's changed the way we view our universe,' said Ferguson. 'There's a lot of emotion today, but one thing's indisputable. America's not going to stop exploring.


Atlantis' mission was to resupply the International Space Station, ending a 12-year programme to build and service the orbital research outpost



Atlantis comes to a standstill on the runway. Private companies will now take over trips to the ISS. Nasa's next stop with astronauts will be an asteroid, then Mars


Hugs and cheers inside Johnson Space Center's mission control as staff congratulate themselves on a job well done


NASA employee Jerry Davison, center, and his wife, Maureen, right, take photos, while colleague Sean Carter, right, watches with his family


Fingers crossed: Johnson Space Center employees Jeremy Rea, right, and Shelley Stortz hold hands


Homeward bound: An image of the ISS that was taken by an Atlantis crew member shortly after the shuttle departed the station on Tuesday and, right, docked with the space station



Last lift-off: Hundred of thousands of spectators watched blast-off at Cape Canaveral and millions tuned in to watch the crew chat to President Obama during the mission


NASA - PARTE 1.mp4


source :dailymail

Let's light her up one last time! Atlantis overcomes a shaky launch to become the final Nasa shuttle to blast into space

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

One last hurrah: Atlantis blasts off for the International Space Station on Nasa's last space shuttle mission


The space shuttle Atlantis thundered into orbit today, writing the final chapter in a 30-year story of triumphs, tragedy and, ultimately, unfulfilled expectations.

A million-strong crowd crammed into Cape Canaveral surrounding towns to bid an emotional farewell to the shuttle as they watched it lift off on its 135th and final mission.

They lined causeways and beaches around the central Florida site, angling for a last glimpse of the pioneering ship that has defined the U.S. space program for the past 30 years.

While there were nervy moments as the countdown stalled for two minutes at 31 seconds while engineers fixed a problem with launch pad equipment - nothing could stop the historic lift off.

'Good luck to you and your crew on this final flight of this true American icon,' shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach radioed to the crew minutes before takeoff, adding: 'Have a little fun up there.'



Up, up and away: The shuttle almost didn't get off the ground though, as the giant countdown clock at Kennedy Space Center stuck at 0.31seconds for what seemed like



Just as the spectators at Cape Canaveral in Florida and tens of millions of television viewers around the world had given up hope, Atlantis began to rise



Off to the ISS: The shuttle was visible for 42 seconds before disappearing into the clouds



The final countdown: The shuttle lifts off as hundreds of fans watch a giant clock countdown with 13 seconds to go


Best view in the house: Some of an estimated one million spectators watch the launch


Emotional: Kennedy Space Centre employee Lisa Gorichky, right, cries as the shuttle lifts off while children watch from a nearby park


Fond farewell: The blast-off marks the beginning of the end for Nasa's shuttle programme


Soaring high: Thousands gather in the surf and on sand at Cocoa Beach, Florida to watch the shuttle pierce the clouds


Aerial view: The shuttle seen from a nearby Nasa aircraft as it lifts off. The plane subsequently flew through the remaining exhaust plume, left


One last time: The shuttle left a huge exhaust plume as it lifted off



No stopping now: A plume of smoke rises from the launch pad as Atlantis blasts into space


The final countdown: Commander Chris Ferguson gestures as he is strapped into his seat aboard Atlantis in footage screened on Nasa TV


Breakaway: Atlantis iseparates from its external fuel tank shortly after launch


Ready to roll: Atlantis crew members (from right to left) Commander Chris Ferguson, Rex Walheim, Doug Hurley and Sandra Magnus, head to shuttle Atlantis on launch pad 39-A for the final launch of the shuttle programme


Astrovan awaits: The astronauts wave to photographers before making the short journey to the launch pad





Hope: Nasa engineers fill Atlantis's tanks with rocket fuel this morning ahead of the shuttle's final flight



Lightning: A bolt struck about a third of a mile from Atlantis today. Nasa engineers didn't detect any damage


Wet: The Vehicle Assembly Building is seen through a window during a downpour at Space Center earlier today


Cover: Up to one million people are expected to try to watch the final shuttle launch live. Many are now ducking for cover in bad weather


Raincheck: A TV journalist is shielded by an umbrella as he reports from beside the launch pad


STS-135 Launch






source : dailymail

Are aliens getting less camera shy? UFO's filmed above BBC building in London

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

UFOs? In the video, three fast-moving white dots streak across the London skyline


If UFO's are real and trying to get our attention perhaps they are getting a little more savvy about the way we humans work.

A new video has emerged purporting to show 'a mothership and its fleet' zipping around in the clouds above a BBC building in West London.

Perhaps the group of intergalactic travellers was hoping for some coverage from Auntie.


Crowd puller: By the time the cameraman arrives on the scene there are already three other people observing the 'phenomenon'


Instead they were caught on camera by a passer-by, and at least one other person who can be seen filming or taking pictures on his camera phone while the video is filmed.

In the video, the cameraman runs towards the corner of Bolsover Street and Clipstone Street where two other men are already standing, gazing skywards, one of whom is using a mobile phone camera.

As the camera is pointed upwards, over the BBC's Yalding House, three white dots flash across the sky at great speed in a triangle formation, they are very quickly followed by two similar sized white dots.

As the camera pans down again, two people on the opposite side of the road can also been seen watching events unfold above them.


Mothership: After the five white dots are seen whizzing around, one larger brighter disc-shaped white object movers around slowly in the sky


Then one larger, bright and more slow moving disc-shaped white object appears, circles around briefly and zips off.

By this time a crowd of five people have gathered on the street corner to observe. A Scottish man's voice is heard off camera saying the word 'UFO'.

Shortly after another Scottish man's voice is heard saying: 'Are you getting that up there? I couldn't see before because the sun as flashing by.'

Far be it from us to suggest that the video is a hoax, but were people so minded then that part of London is home to a great many production houses offering both the expertise and facilities to mock up a convincing video.

Another similar video posted by alymc01 appears to have been filmed from the office of The Mill, a company which creates visual effects for the film industry.

But as the person who circulated the footage wrote in order to circumvent the cynical naysayers: 'If you believe it's easy photoshopped why don't you make a video & show us all.'


Close-up encounters: The three white dots that appear at the beginning of the video


The video was originally uploaded to YouTube by 31-year-old user alymc01, but it has been more widely circulated by a user called EllasVirgo, who on his YouTube profile describes himself as a farmer from Australia.

Virgo's YouTube channel is filled with space, asteroid and UFO-related snippets, including videos with titles such as 'More proof Nasa is lying'.

In the brief text accompanying the video Virgo wrote: 'UFOs Over London BBC Radio 1 Building.

'Right - took over a week to get it....but finally managed to get these critters on camera on a clear day, and even get a close-up

'It seems to be attracting quite a crowd now when they appear

'Can anyone explain what on earth these lights are please?'

The video was uploaded on June 26 and, given that Virgo says it took more than a week to source, and that he states in the description that it was shot on a Friday in June, the film was made on either June 3, 10 or 17.




source: dailymail