Categories: Space Shuttle

Atlantis is Carried Back Home

The latest space shuttle mission landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, no thanks to the bad weather at its normal landing site in Florida. Since the shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, it needs to be carried back to the launch facility on board a specially strengthened Boeing 747.

On Monday, the shuttle began that journey home.

Atlantis flew out of California today on board the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and then landed for refueling at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Because of poor weather in Florida, NASA decided the shuttle should remain there for tonight. They’ll try and complete the journey o n Tuesday.

Back in Florida, NASA is processing the next shuttle mission, STS-118. This will deliver the S5 truss segment to the International Space Station, and it’s targeted for an August 7th launch.

Original Source: NASA

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.

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