HOUSTON -- NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston has scheduled briefings, interview opportunities and demonstrations to highlight the final space shuttle mission, targeted to launch on July 8.

On June 30, NASA will hold news media briefings to preview the STS-135 mission and a news conference with the shuttle crew: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim. NASA Television and the agency's website will carry the news briefings live.

Schedules are showing the External Tank camera – which will ride with Atlantis’ ET-138 – is to be modified – allowing it to beam back video of the tank’s disintegration after parting ways with the orbiter at MECO (Main Engine Cut Off). Meanwhile, STS-135′s pad flow now includes the replacement of the left outboard Window Contamination Control (WCCS) desiccant tubing.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- After safely reaching its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis awaits the next major milestone for its upcoming STS-135 mission to the International Space Station, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program. The mission with four veteran astronauts is targeted to launch July 8.

Atlantis arrived at the pad early Wednesday morning on top of a giant crawler-transporter. The crawler-transporter left Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at 8:42 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 31, and travelled less than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The shuttle was secured on the launch pad at 3:29 a.m. Wednesday.

HOUSTON -- NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus, who will fly on the last space shuttle mission next month, is available for live satellite interviews from 7 to 9 a.m. CDT on Monday, June 6. Shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch July 8 with Magnus, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialist Rex Walheim to deliver supplies and spare equipment to the International Space Station.

After her first spaceflight in 2002, Magnus became the 34th out of 47 woman to fly aboard the shuttle, which launched the first American woman into space, Sally Ride, in 1983. With the upcoming STS-135 launch, Magnus will be the last female astronaut to fly on the storied vehicle.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will host two media events to highlight the hardware flying aboard the final space shuttle mission, targeted to launch July 8.

At 1 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 10, managers and team members involved in processing the elements for flight will be available for media interviews at Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility. During its STS-135 mission, shuttle Atlantis will carry the multi-purpose logistics module Raffaello, filled with a variety of spare parts and supplies for the International Space Station. Atlantis also will deliver the Robotic Refueling Mission system, which will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft in orbit.

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:25:40 AM CDT

Space shuttle Endeavour completed its final flight by delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station during the STS-134 mission.

"I think we all should be really impressed how big and magnificent that space station is," said STS-134 Mission Specialist Mike Fincke at the crew press conference following landing. Describing their parting view of the space station where he served once as crew and once as commander, he said, "We were impressed; we were excited like five-year olds at a rollercoaster park."

Tue, 31 May 2011 04:47:39 AM CDT

Space shuttle Endeavour’s crew is wrapping up final preparations for its planned landing at 2:35 a.m. EDT Wednesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew is preparing to stow the Ku-Band antenna, used for high-data rate communications and television from space, and will go to sleep at 9:56 a.m.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to return to Earth for the final time on Wednesday, June 1, completing a 16-day mission to outfit the International Space Station. If Endeavour lands Wednesday, it will have spent 299 days in space and traveled more than 122.8 million miles during its 25 flights. It launched on its first mission on May 7, 1992.

HOUSTON – The astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour woke up this evening to a song that was written specially for the crew who are flying the orbiter on its final mission.

A NASA contest sought original song entries to awaken the astronauts during Endeavour's STS-134 flight. The competition received 1,350 submissions, and NASA selected 10 songs as finalists before opening it up to six weeks of public voting. [The Astronaut's Playlist: Groovy Songs for Space Travelers]

"More than 1.5 million votes were cast to determine the first and second place songs," NASA officials said.

Thu, 26 May 2011 01:23:40 AM CDT

Space shuttle Endeavour's crew completed today's inspection of the shuttle's thermal protection system at 2:16 a.m. EDT. The crew began the inspection early. They used the 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom Sensor System to conduct a high fidelity, three-dimensional scan of areas of the shuttle that experience the highest heating during entry - the wing leading edges and nose cap. Managers and engineers in Mission Control will review the data to validate the heat shield's integrity and assure it has suffered no significant micrometeoroid and orbital debris damage.