As you may have heard and possibly watched, history was made today when the space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on the final flight of NASA’s shuttle program. Upon its return, Atlantis will join the fleet’s other three vessels in retirement.
SCIENCE (formerly Science Channel) will be examining the past, present and future of the shuttle program, as well as U.S. space exploration in general, with the special Last Shuttle: Our Journey, premiering tonight at 10pm ET/PT. Including same-day footage of the historic final launch from Kennedy Space Center, the documentary also features interviews with key players in the shuttle program, including the four crew members of the last Atlantis flight — mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, and Commander Chris Ferguson and pilot Doug Hurley. There will also be interviews with Bob Crippen, the pilot of the first-ever shuttle mission (Columbia in 1981), as well as Jerry Sheehan, Director of Orbiter Engineering at Boeing.
Throughout today, SCIENCE will also be providing behind-the-scenes footage and commentary on Twitter (@sciencechannel) and on Facebook (facebook.com/sciencechannel).
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Credit: NASA/Science Channel
