Space Shuttle Atlantis finally returned home, riding atop a modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft.
That piggyback ride was needed because foul Florida weather forced Atlantis to land on the West Coast, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., instead of gliding back to the runway at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
So the shuttle had to be loaded on the 747 and flown cross-country to Kennedy, a $1.8 million extra expense for NASA.
But that didn’t detract from the stellar success of Atlantis and its crew on the STS-125 Mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, a difficult task with unexpected challenges that the Atlantis crew had to overcome, such as stuck bolts on the Hubble that had to be loosened with brute strength. (Please see Space & Missile Defense Report, Monday, June 1, 2009.)
Atlantis now will be prepared for its next mission, a liftoff Nov. 12 to carry spare parts to the International Space Station. After the shuttle fleet is mandated to stop flying next year, there won’t be any spaceship with the cargo carrying capability of the shuttle, with its mammoth cargo bay and 4.5 million pounds of thrust to carry huge and heavy objects to orbit.