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    July 20, 2011

Astronauts Check Shuttle for Thursday's Landing

   VOA News
   A photo made from NASA television shows Space Shuttle Atlantis as it
   passes under a solar panel on the International Space Station after
   undocking, July 19, 2011
   Photo: AP
   A photo made from NASA television shows Space Shuttle Atlantis as it
   passes under a solar panel on the International Space Station after
   undocking, July 19, 2011

   [1]NASA astronauts onboard the space shuttle Atlantis made preparations
   for Thursday's planned touchdown, the last for the 30-year U.S. shuttle
   program.
   Atlantis and its four-member crew departed from the International Space
   Station on Tuesday after an eight-day visit to deliver a year's worth
   of supplies and haul trash and used equipment back to Earth.

   NASA TV Live Stream

   On Wednesday, Atlantis deployed a four-kilogram satellite, the last to
   be released by a U.S. space shuttle.
   Later, Commander Christopher Ferguson and his crew checked flight
   control systems and practiced landings on a laptop.
   NASA is forecasting ideal weather for the shuttle's Thursday morning
   landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 13-day mission
   capped off the Atlantis' 33rd and final flight after 26 years in
   service.
   The U.S. space agency NASA has contracted with four commercial space
   companies to develop new spacecraft to ferry U.S. astronauts to and
   from the ISS. The new vehicles are still three to five years away from
   service. Russian Soyuz capsules will handle transportation of
   astronauts for the next few years.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

References

   1. http://www.nasa.gov/

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