OTD In Space – July 8: Atlantis Launches On Final Mission

On July 8, 2011, the space shuttle Atlantis launched on its final mission.

Atlantis was the last of NASA's space shuttles to fly into space. It went on 33 missions since 1985, ferrying astronauts to and from space stations, and even doing some top-secret missions for the U.S. military. Mission STS-135 and its 4-member crew brought much-needed supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. It landed for a final time on July 21, 2011. By the end of this final mission, Atlantis had traveled nearly 126,000,000 miles and orbited Earth 4,848 times.