George Diller, NASA Commentator: T-10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...all three engines up and burning?2, 1, zero
and liftoff! The final liftoff of Atlantis. On the shoulders of the space shuttle, America will continue the dream.
Chris Ferguson, STS-135 Commander: Roll program, Houston.
Barry Wilmore, Capcom: Roger roll, Atlantis.
Rob Navias, NASA Commentator: Houston now controlling the flight of Atlantis.
The space shuttle spreads its wings one final time for the start of a sentimental journey into history.
(nat sound of STS-135 Landing)
Rob Navias, NASA Commentator: Main gear touchdown.
Chris Ferguson, STS-135 Commander: Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years,
the space shuttle has earned its place in history, and it has come to a final stop.
Barry Wilmore, Capcom: We copy your wheel stop and we'll take this opportunity to congratulate you,
Atlantis, as well as the thousands of passionate individuals across this great
spacefaring nation who truly empowered this incredible spacecraft ?
which for three decades has inspired millions around the globe.
NARRATOR: A year after the retirement of NASA's space shuttles and their shipment to
museums across the nation, the work force at
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is remaking America's gateway to space.
A dynamic infrastructure is taking shape, one designed to host many
kinds of rockets and spacecraft sending people on humanity's great adventures.
Orbiter Processing Facility 3, no longer needed to service shuttles,
has been revamped and turned over to Space Florida.
They will partner with the Boeing Company to manufacture, assemble,
and test the company's Crew Space Transportation CST-100 spacecraft.
OPFs 1 and 2 also are expected to be used in the future for
spacecraft processing as Kennedy's unique capabilities are adapted to new users.
Negotiations are also under way for Launch Complex 39 for use of its twin pads A and B.
Robert Cabana, Kennedy Space Center Director: We still have many challenges in front of us.
But I believe our future is bright, and as great as our last 50 years have been,
I believe our next 50 years are going to be even better.
NARRATOR: Some of the work has already paid off, offering the NASA community hints of what the future holds.
SpaceX, for instance, launched a demonstration cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station in May.
The company and NASA proved that cooperation can overcome daunting technical hurdles safely and effectively.
Like OPF-3, the high bay at the Operations and Checkout Building
has been remade into a modern aerospace factory floor.
Space Florida and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company renovated the facility,
once used to process space vehicles in the Apollo era.
It will serve as the final assembly and checkout facility for the Orion crew
exploration vehicles, which includes the crew and service modules.
The first space-bound Orion rolled into the facility June 29 to begin assembly and
processing for a flight test in 2014. NASA and its astronauts are counting on the Orion to
take people into deep space for the first time since Apollo.
Rex Walheim, STS-135 Astronaut: We don't know what we don't know, and when we find those
things and we make those discoveries, we're going to be better off just as a people but
also it's going to have applications that help make our life better.
NARRATOR: Workers and technicians are refurbishing the Vehicle Assembly Building, Launch
Pad 39B and numerous other facilities in anticipation of a new golden age of spaceflight.
When the work is completed, the center will, for the first time, be equipped to assemble
process and launch several kinds of spacecraft and launchers,
including ships designed to take astronauts far beyond low Earth orbit.
The Commercial Crew Program, based at Kennedy, has made strides toward bringing those
vehicles into existence by sharing NASA's hard-earned expertise with private companies.
The goal is to develop innovative spacecraft to take astronauts to the International Space Station.
While the launchers and spacecraft that will take people into space are invented and tested,
NASA's Launch Services Program continues to dispatch NASA explorers of a different kind to
survey the cosmos and visit some of the most tantalizing destinations in the solar system.
Riding atop an Atlas V rocket, the car-sized rover "Curiosity" lifted off from Kennedy on
November 26, 2011 on an ambitious mission to place a robotic geologist on Mars so
researchers can find out more about the mysterious red planet.
The Juno mission also began at Kennedy, with an Atlas V thundering spaceward on August 5 to
place the 4-ton spacecraft on a course for Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.
A pair of small spacecraft known as GRAIL were sent to our closest astronomical
neighbor, the moon, aboard a Delta II rocket on Sept.
10 to map the lunar gravity field with unprecedented precision.
From new programs being established to the refurbishment of center
landmarks to the successful launches of innovative spacecraft,
Kennedy remains at center stage in NASA's space exploration ambitions.
Lori Garver, NASA Deputy Administrator: The road to space has always and
always will lead right through the great state of Florida.