NASA - Tour Kennedy Space Center with Google Street View

With its seaside location and unique facilities steeped in history, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida boasts amazing views typically seen only by employees and astronauts.

Now space enthusiasts around the world can take a virtual walk through the transfer aisle of the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building, stand at the top of Launch Pad 39A, and more, thanks to a new partnership between Kennedy and Google Maps with Street View.

"We are pleased to partner with Google on the new Street View project, which offers the public a behind-the-scenes look at the Kennedy Space Center's unique facilities that launched humans to the moon and Space Shuttles to low Earth orbit.

Viewers also will get a peek inside areas where flight hardware was processed, including elements of the International Space Station, and planetary and scientific payloads," said Lisa Malone, director of KSC Public Affairs.

The collaborative effort offers unprecedented views of Kennedy Space Center at a dynamic time for the spaceport.

Kennedy is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and continues to transition its facilities and infrastructure from a focus on the Space Shuttle Program, which ended in 2011, to a modern and flexible launch complex.

"The Street View team tries to go to amazing places around the world, because we know that our users love to see them and experience them online," said Ryan Falor, project manager for Google Street View.

"Kennedy Space Center is an obviously amazing location with one-of-a-kind buildings and structures that we knew people would be excited to see. When I started managing the team, I knew that one of my goals was to bring Street View to NASA and I was thrilled when we got a positive response from Kennedy about the project."

Through Google Maps with Street View, users can travel the same route the astronauts traveled from the Operations and Checkout Building to the launch pad; stand inside the Firing Room in the Launch Control Center, the nerve center of Launch Complex 39; walk through the high bay of the Space Station Processing Facility; and visit the Space Shuttle Main Engine shop, among other locations.

Go to http://maps.google.com/streetview to begin the virtual tour. Visitors also can use Google Maps to navigate to Kennedy Space Center, then switch to Street View for an eye-level look at the spaceport. 

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NASA Shuttle Atlantis and Endeavour's Rocketdyne Engines: On the move

All six Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne space shuttle main engines from Endeavour's STS-134 and Atlantis' STS-135 missions sit in test cells inside the Engine Shop at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

For the first time, all 15 shuttle main engines are in the shop at the same time, being prepped for shipment to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where they are being repurposed for use on NASA's next generation heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA Shuttle Atlantis: Last Flight and landing

Thus was history made: Space Shuttle Atlantis left the International Space Station on Tuesday and made its last return to Earth today.

The Shuttle era is now over and the door is open to the next generation of space vehicles.

After an additional day to accommodate the cargo movements to and from the Raffaello transport module, the STS-135 mission lasted 12 days 18 hours 27 minutes.

The main wheels of Atlantis touched the runway at 11:56:58 CEST (09:56:58 GMT) today in Florida.

	Atlantis with Raffaello MPLM

Along with four astronauts, the spaceplane brought back a precious load of biomedical samples.

The Shuttle’s retirement leaves Russia’s smaller Soyuz craft as the only way to make return trips to the Station. The capacity for bringing down items is now very limited.

Atlantis also returned with 2.5 tonnes of waste, hardware no longer needed and a faulty ammonia pump for investigation.

Atlantis will now join the decommissioned vehicles of the Shuttle fleet, to be handed over to US museums.

In this case, the trip will be a short one: Atlantis will be a major attraction at the Kennedy Space Center’s nearby visitor complex.

	'The All-American Meal' aboard the ISS

"This was the last flight of this fantastic vehicle, which was able to carry more than 20 tonnes to space and back," said Thomas Reiter, ESA’s Director for Human Spaceflight and Operations and one of the 24 European astronauts to have flown on a Shuttle.

"This is sad, but also we’re looking into the future about the new things that will happen.

"We will continue to operate the Station for the upcoming years, when we have to rely on the Russian Soyuz capsules for human transportation, but also the new transportation systems will soon come to the market."

NASA Shuttle Atlantis: STS-135: Launched

NASA Shuttle Atlantis: Final Landing

For Shuttle Atlantis, Final Landing

Gliding into retirement after 32 missions covering 120 million miles, the shuttle Atlantis dropped out of orbit and returned to Earth on Wednesday, wrapping up a storied 25-year career with a near-flawless space station assembly mission.

Space Shuttle Atlantis approached the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday for a landing after its final mission.

Taking over manual control 50,000 feet above the Florida spaceport, Capt. Kenneth T. Ham of the Navy, the commander, guided the 105-ton space plane through a sweeping right overhead turn before a steep descent to Runway 33.

Just shy of the runway threshold, Captain Ham pulled the shuttle’s nose up, Cmdr. Dominic A. Antonelli of the Navy, the pilot, deployed the ship’s landing gear and Atlantis swooped to a picture-perfect touchdown at 8:48 a.m. Eastern time.

“Houston, Atlantis, we have wheels stopped,” Captain Ham radioed a few moments later as the shuttle coasted to a stop on the runway centerline.

“For you and your crew, that was a suiting end to an incredible mission. I’m sure the station crew members hated to see you leave, but we’re glad to have you back,” Marine Col. Charles Hobaugh replied from mission control in Houston.

The astronauts, including Captain Ham; Commander Antonelli; Michael T. Good, a flight engineer and retired Air Force colonel; Garrett E. Reisman; Piers J. Sellers; and Capt. Stephen G. Bowen of the Navy, planned to doff their pressure suits and join NASA managers and engineers on the runway for a walk-around inspection before returning to crew quarters.

During a busy week docked to the International Space Station, the astronauts installed a Russian research module, delivered several tons of supplies and carried out three spacewalks to install a backup Ku-band antenna, an equipment mounting platform and six new solar array batteries.

It was the final planned mission for Atlantis as NASA phases out the shuttle program after three decades and more than 130 flights. Only two more missions are planned, a flight by Discovery in September or October and a final flight by Endeavour late this year or early next.

But Atlantis, along with a final set of solid-fuel boosters and NASA’s last external tank, will be processed for launch on a possible rescue mission in case of any major problems that might prevent Endeavour’s crew from making a safe re-entry.

While there are no official plans to actually launch Atlantis, NASA managers are seeking permission from the Obama administration to send the shuttle back up on one final space station resupply mission. Using a crew of four, NASA could avoid the need for a shuttle rescue vehicle, relying on the space station for safe haven and Russian Soyuz spacecraft for the crew’s eventual return to Earth if a major problem stranded Atlantis in space.

A decision is expected later this summer.

NASA Shuttle Atlantis docks with ISS on final mission

Atlantis docks with space station on final mission

Space shuttle Atlantis is photographed from the International Space Station prior to docking. Image credit: NASA

Space shuttle Atlantis is photographed from the International Space Station prior to docking. Image credit: NASA The shuttle Atlantis has linked up with the International Space Station (ISS) for the final rendezvous of its 25-year career, ahead of a first space walk set for Monday.

NASA said Atlantis and its crew of six astronauts successfully docked with the orbiting space lab at 1428 GMT Sunday about 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the South Pacific.

Its arrival was not without drama as a piece of debris threatened to force Mission Control to order the space station to perform an emergency maneuver to avoid a collision.

As things turned out the unidentified piece of space debris passed by safely some five miles away from the docking procedure and no special operation was required.

After an hour spent checking the soundness of the seal, the shuttle and station crews opened the hatches and held a traditional welcome ceremony before beginning preparations for the first of three planned spacewalks.

NASA said that three station crew members snapped 398 photographs of Atlantis's all-important heat shield on Sunday.

"The images were taken as the shuttle performed a back-flip prior to docking... and were sent down to Earth for analysis," the US space agency said in a statement.

Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Steve Bowen were "'camping out' in the Quest airlock overnight to purge nitrogen from their circulatory system. The pair are preparing for the first of three spacewalks which occurs Monday at 8:15 am (1215 GMT) and is scheduled to last 6.5 hours," NASA added.

The mission is the 32nd and final scheduled voyage for Atlantis, which first launched in 1985 and has logged some 115 million miles over a career spanning a quarter of a century.

Only two more shuttle launches remain -- one in September for Discovery and the final blast off for Endeavour in November -- before the curtain falls on this era of human spaceflight.

The United States will then rely on Russia to take astronauts to the station aboard three-seater Soyuz spacecraft until a new fleet of commercial space taxis is operational.

NASA Shuttle Atlantis: Ready to Fly

Image of Gantry swinging away from Atlantis prior to launch sequencing

Space shuttle Atlantis is embarking on its final planned mission. During the 12-day flight, Atlantis and six astronauts will fly to the International Space Station, leaving behind a Russian Mini Research Module, a set of batteries for the station's truss and dish antenna, along with other replacement parts.

NASA astronaut Ken Ham will command an all-veteran flight crew: Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Michael Good, Garrett Reisman, Piers Sellers and Steve Bowen.

After the final STS-132 Flight Readiness Review, John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager, pointed out that Atlantis' last planned mission will be an exciting one.

"Twelve days, three [spacewalks], tons of robotics... We're putting on spares that make us feel good about the long-term sustainability of the ISS, replacing batteries that have been up there for a while, and docking a Russian-built ISS module," Shannon said.

"This flight has a little bit of everything, and it's been a great preparation for the team."