Space shuttle Atlantis stands at launch

For tens of thousands of past and present working shuttle, including more than 3,000 layoffs expected July 22 traditional "wheel stop" call when space shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth would mean the end of an era.
Atlantis plans to shoot at 11:26 ET today, weather permitting, the final shuttle mission by NASA, after three decades and more than 130 flights, with landing at the Kennedy Center is set for July 20.
"After the wheel stopped, and go out shows and the orbiter is unpowered for the last time ... no rush of emotion when we all finally realize that everything was all over, crowning jewel of our space program, then we got back and forth from low Earth orbit for 30 years ... we understand that it's over, "said Commander Chris Ferguson transfer. "It will take some time to deal with it."
Landing Atlantis "will come seven and a half years after President Bush, responding to disasters in 2003 Columbia, NASA ordered to complete the International Space Station and retire the space shuttle fleet by the end of the decade.
When all was said and done, the last two shuttle missions slipped into the first half of 2011 and the third flight with Atlantis, was added to the manifesto to put the final load of supplies to the space station.
Bush administration's plan is the elimination of costly programs transfer - and thousands of jobs that the contractor has made it so expensive - and use the savings to help pay for a new program, building a safer, less expensive rockets needed to support the establishment of the Antarctic-style bases on the Moon 2020.