Yesterday was a historic day for NASA, as their final shuttle mission concluded with the safe landing of Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center. After 135 shuttle missions (including two failures), NASA has decided to take space exploration in a different direction. I hope this means they will be exploring further into the galaxy telescopes and unmanned vehicles.

Space shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) touches down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), completing its 13-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program, early Thursday morning, July 21, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Overall, Atlantis spent 307 days in space and traveled nearly 126 million miles during its 33 flights. Atlantis, the fourth orbiter built, launched on its first mission on Oct. 3, 1985. – NASA

Link: Space Shuttle Final Flight: Goddard’s Perspective

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls