NASA’s Atlantis made its landing at Kennedy Space Center early Thursday, marking the end of a 30-year space shuttle program, a program that has become a symbol for American space exploration leadership.
"The space shuttle changed the way we view the world, the way we view the universe," Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson said upon landing. "America's not going to stop exploring. Thanks for protecting us and bringing this program to a fitting end."
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Atlantis took out on a 13-day mission before landing and ending the shuttle program and mission for good.
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Although America's space exploration leadership is to remain undisputed for now, the end of such a program along with Congress' plan to axe the James Cobb Telescope project, a project NASA has claimed would provide 20-years-worth of new studies and discoveries, makes the future plans of this division uncertain which could affect its leadership down the road.
NASA will now focus on "deep space exploration", as well as studies of asteroids and, eventually, landings on Mars.
The following are the final shots of the Atlantis landing and the space shuttle program:
The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson, Sandy Magnus, Rex Walheim and Pilot Doug Hurley wave. | (Photo: NASA)The space shuttle Atlantis makes a night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. | (Photos: NASA)The space shuttle Atlantis makes a night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. | (Photo: NASA)Space shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 21, 2011. The space shuttle Atlantis glided home through a moonlit sky for its final landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, completing a 30-year odyssey for NASA's shuttle fleet. | (Photo: Reuters/Don Emmert)Space shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 21, 2011. The space shuttle Atlantis glided home through a moonlit sky for its final landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, completing a 30-year odyssey for NASA's shuttle fleet. | (Source: Reuters/Don Emmert)The space shuttle Atlantis makes a night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this image from NASA TV July 21, 2011. | (Photo: REUTERS/NASA TV)Space shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 21, 2011. The space shuttle Atlantis glided home through a moonlit sky for its final landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, completing a 30-year odyssey for NASA's shuttle fleet. | (Photo: Reuters/Pierre Ducharme)Space shuttle Atlantis STS-135 lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida July 21, 2011.The space shuttle Atlantis glided home through a moonlit sky for its final landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, completing a 30-year odyssey for NASA's shuttle fleet. | (Photo: REUTERS/Scott Audette)
