Video: Endeavour begins final trip home

Space shuttle Atlantis zoomed back toward Earth on Thursday to make the very last landing of the 30-year program.

02:12

Raw Video: Atlantis makes final landing

Thursday, Jul. 21, 2011 6:32AM EDT

Space shuttle Atlantis zoomed back toward Earth on Thursday to make the very last landing of the 30-year program.

01:52

Final shuttle landing hours away

Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2011 8:04PM EDT

On the eve of NASA's historic, wheel-stopping end to the shuttle program, the four astronauts making the final journey and the flight controllers who will guide them home said Wednesday they're starting to feel a rush of emotions

A photo made from NASA television shows the Atlantis space shuttle after undocking from the International Space Station ony July 19, 2011.

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Raw Video: Atlantis undocks from space station

Tuesday, Jul. 19, 2011 4:48AM EDT

Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station early Tuesday. The two spacecraft were soaring nearly 400 kilometres above the Pacific when they parted company forever.

01:07

Storage bin loaded on space shuttle

Monday, Jul. 18, 2011 12:52PM EDT

NASA's orbiting astronauts detached a huge storage bin full of trash from the International Space Station on Monday and loaded it aboard Atlantis for the last shuttle ride back to Earth.

02:13

Shuttle Atlantis blasts off

Friday, Jul. 08, 2011 12:56PM EDT

The 135th and final space shuttle mission has begun. Here is video of the Space Shuttle Atlantis blasting off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Friday morning.

In this handout provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the space shuttle Atlantis is seen shortly after the rotating service structure (RSS) was rolled back at launch pad 39a on July 7, 2011 at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Space shuttle Atlantis is set to lift off tomorrow, on the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135, a 12-day mission to the International Space Station.

00:34

Shuttle rollback time lapse

Friday, Jul. 08, 2011 12:19PM EDT

In a time lapse video, the equipment that holds the Shuttle Atlantis in place on the launch pad is slowly rolled back as the shuttle prepares to lift-off from Cape Canaveral for the final time.

03:02

Canadian astronauts reflect on the shuttle

Friday, Jul. 08, 2011 9:52AM EDT

As the shuttle program comes to an end, the iconic Canadarm will make its final flight aboard U.S. space shuttle Atlantis. Canadian astronauts look back on a program that began three decades ago.

The space shuttle Atlantis astronauts left to right, pilot Doug Hurley, mission specialist Sandy Magnus, commander Chris Ferguson and mission specialist Rex Walheim, leave the operations and check-out building on their way to the pad at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, July 8, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis is the 135th and final space shuttle launch for NASA.

01:33

Shuttle crew arrives a launch pad

Friday, Jul. 08, 2011 8:50AM EDT

The crew of the shuttle Atlantis arrived Friday morning ahead of the last space shuttle launch. Rain in the forecast may delay the shuttle's launch.

A sign reading, 'God Speed Atlantis'' is seen through a rain soaked window as people wait for the launch of Space shuttle Atlantis on the last mission of the space shuttle program on July 7, 2011 in Titusville, Florida. Atlantis is scheduled to lift-off on Friday for a mission to the space station, an estimated one million people may show up to watch the launch. Weather conditions are not looking favorable for the launch.

01:55

Shuttle launch likely delayed

Thursday, Jul. 07, 2011 4:03PM EDT

The last Space Shuttle launch schedule Friday morning could be postponed due to stormy weather forecast at the launch site in Florida. AP's Haven Daley has more from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

02:15

The space shuttle's final crew

Wednesday, Jul. 06, 2011 10:48AM EDT

A final shuttle crew of just four members means more space for supplies for the International Space Station.

01:10

NASA enters new era of cooperation with Russia

Tuesday, Jul. 05, 2011 2:01PM EDT

With the end of the landmark shuttle programme in sight, future voyages into space will be done with the help of Russia, a far cry from the Cold War era space race that pitted the two nations as rivals for the stars.

In this Friday, March 1, 2002 file picture, the space shuttle Columbia illuminates a cloud during its morning liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

00:28

Private sector to expoit shuttle demise

Tuesday, Jul. 05, 2011 1:57PM EDT

Once the space shuttles are retired following the launch of the Atlantis, only the Russians will be able to transport astronauts into space, aboard their Soyuz rockets. But NASA, the leader in space exploration for the past half-century, is backing developments in the private sector, banking on companies to take men into orbit by 2015.

Chris Hadfield speaks with The Globe and Mail in spring 2011.

02:19

Chris Hadfield on the magnetic beauty of earth

Friday, Jun. 24, 2011 2:38PM EDT

Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space, says he believes more people would become "better stewards of the earth" if they had a chance to see our fragile planet from space.

Roberta Bondar speaks with the Globe and Mail in Spring 2011.

02:11

Roberta Bondar on being the first Canadian woman in space

Friday, Jun. 24, 2011 2:36PM EDT

Roberta Bondar was the only female aboard her space shuttle flight. But she say was wasn’t treated differently and was an "integral part of the team."

Marc Garneau speaks with The Globe and Mail in Spring 2011.

02:10

Marc Garneau on the uniqueness of the shuttle program

Friday, Jun. 24, 2011 2:30PM EDT

Marc Garneau, the first Canadian to fly in space, says seeing the earth from orbit "is burned into my brain for the rest of my life."

Julie Payette speaks with The Globe and Mail in Spring 2011

02:13

Julie Payette on advancing the knowledge of humankind

Friday, Jun. 24, 2011 2:13PM EDT

Julie Payette, the last Canadian to fly on a shuttle, says the construction of the space station is a good model of international co-operation and "we should apply it in more more places."

Space shuttle Atlantis rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building for launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Scott Audette/Reuters

01:53

Shuttle Atlantis rolls to launchpad

Wednesday, Jun. 01, 2011 4:21AM EDT

Shuttle Atlantis is now on the launch pad, in preparation for a July liftoff. This time lapse shows the 3.4-mile, 6-hour trek from Kennedy Space Center's vehicle assembly building to the launch pad in under two minutes.

00:55

Endeavour begins final trip home

Tuesday, May. 31, 2011 9:13AM EDT

Shuttle Endeavour's six astronauts have checked the systems they need to bring NASA's next-to-last space shuttle flight to an end.

02:13

Florida braces for post-shuttle job losses

Thursday, Apr. 28, 2011 7:09AM EDT

In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Bathed in xenon lights, space shuttle Endeavour moves along the crawlerway from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on March 22, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

02:29

Space shuttles fly into retirement

Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2011 10:13AM EDT

NASA is retiring the space shuttle, some 30 years after the first orbiter took to the heavens. Now, the AP's Lee Powell says the familiar black-and-white crafts are becoming sought-after museum pieces.