Space: The Final Frontier

I’ve had a bunch of links about the NASA Space Transportation System (STS) – otherwise known as the “shuttles” – accumulating over the past few weeks, so I’ve decided to dump them here. The articles offer a great perspective of the shuttle system, as well as some awesome and spectacular photographs depicting the program over the years. Enjoy the reads :)

• The space shuttle: Portrait of an American era – A great photo gallery of some unique and memorable shots of shuttle, locations, and people (Washington Post Magazine, July 6 2011)
• Last flight of the Space Shuttle: a 30-year retrospective – Overview of the Space Transportation System (Ars Technica, July 7 2011)
• Video: As Endeavour Returns Home For the Final Time, Atlantis Prepares for the Last Shuttle Launch Ever – A wrap-up of the Endeavour shuttle and video of its last mission landing (Popular Science, June 1 2011)
• As Humans Take Leave of Space, Robot Explorers Will Go Farther and Look Closer Than Ever – A perspective that the end of the shuttle program is nothing to be sad about, as it is the starting point for a brand new future for NASA with robots and far-reaching exploration (Popular Science, July 8 2011)
• Historic Pairing: Shuttle Docked to the ISS : Big Pic – A beautiful once-in-a-lifetime photograph of the shuttle Endeavour docked to the International Space Station (Discovery News, June 7 2011)