Space Shuttle Atlantis Lands At Kennedy Space Center
Space shuttle Atlantis, seen here in space, on May 16, 2010, returned to Earth this morning. NASA via Getty Images hide caption
Space shuttle Atlantis, seen here in space, on May 16, 2010, returned to Earth this morning.
NASA via Getty ImagesAfter 11 days in space, the space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth a few minutes ago, landing on runway 33 at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center at 8:48 a.m. ET, ending STS-132.
Mission Control authorized a deorbit burn just before 7:15 a.m. ET, and at 8:16 a.m. ET, the shuttle, piloted by Commander Ken Ham, entered the atmosphere.
As NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce explained on Morning Edition last week, NASA hopes this will be the last mission in space for Atlantis, which is "supposed to be the first shuttle in the aging fleet to stop flying."
Workers will keep the orbiter on stand-by, in the event that there's trouble during the last scheduled shuttle flight: Endeavor's mission in November.