Two NASA Space Shuttles on Two Launch Pads for Final Time

Video Courtesy NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org

Following rollout of space shuttle Endeavour from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B on April 17, two shuttles were on the launch pads at the same time at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Shuttle Atlantis already had been moved to Launch Pad 39A. Endeavour will stand by at pad B in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary during Atlantis' upcoming mission to upgrade NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis is targeted to launch May 12. With the space shuttle fleet set for retirement in 2010, this is expected to be the final time two shuttles will be on launch pads at the same time. Video includes aerials of the shuttles on April 17, and sunrise shots and additional aerials on April 18.

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[djrive]

why is it always a pain in the ass to watch HD videos on youtube, even when you have fast internet

[airboyd]

I really don't know. It was uploaded as 1080P60. I'm thinking about uploading again at 720P and skipping the "upgrade"

[predatortheme]

i hope nasa is smart enough to keep the space shuttles(even if they dont fly again in september) that they keep the 3 space shuttles lleft and dont put them into museum, so they got old but working shuttles if something goes wrong on future missions, they can use the old ones as a rescue ship (or they take 1 shuttle of the 3) remove the payload room add seats and make public space flights to orbit and back for money :D

[duncanedwards036]

@PhantomDrums917 It's about money. No matter if its one shuttle or all three you still have thousands of people on the payroll to support them. Then there's the enormous facilities, parts, training, etc. that all costs billions to maintain. The idea was to stop flying shuttles and spend that money on the follow on program called Constellation. Now there is also no follow on program. The United States, as a nation, may be out of manned space. It will be up to private business to carry on.

[PhantomDrums917]

@predatortheme I was thinking the same thing. Why can't they keep at least one on property for emergencies until the new ships come out?

[laxwolf]

If your computer doesn't have a 1080p hdmi hook-up, don't watch in 1080p.

[predatortheme]

@Nomoreidsleft

Your right. I didnt think about that 1 year ago... but billions for each mission is a bit to " too much" we talk about millions at maintaining. not billions

[Nomoreidsleft]

@predatortheme Do you think that the shuttles are like the beat up car sitting in your driveway? You don't just let them sit around and expect them to still be operational. You have to spend millions of dollars just to keep them maintained. Each mission costs billions of dollars.

[SuperDave619]

So... USA's giving up the Space Race? Well, they can say goodbye to new and innovation discoveries because they'll be discovered by the Russians. They're embarking upon nuclear space rockets. Maybe they knew they wouldn't beat the people who were the first in space....

[saints093]

I think it's a bad thing to retire the Space Shuttle, NASA should keep one of the remaining 3 in flight readiness in case something happened on the International Space Station, that way, they could send a crew of astronauts on the Shuttle up to the ISS and bring back the crew on the ISS.

[dustinmolieri]

I always thought it would be an awesome way to retire the shuttle by leaving one permanently docked on the International Space Station. I'm sure there's good reasons for not doing that... but seeing as the Shuttle was a key element in its construction, wouldn't it be a good way to retire at least one shuttle? A great big hood ornament on the ISS? :)

[Assassin7456]

why is the sts 130 the last space shuttle to launch? what else are they going to send up to space?