Current Event #2

My summary of this article is that in Cape Canaveral, Florida – The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis lifted off its seaside launch pad on Monday. It was loaded with spare parts to keep the International Space shuttles flying after shuttles are retired next year. This is NASA’s fifth and final flight of the year. This flight began at 2:28 p.m. EST when Atlantis’s twin booster rockets ignited, sending the 24 year old ship through partly cloudy skies to begin it’s 31st journey in to orbit. The shuttle carries 30,000 pounds (13,610 kg) of equipment. Most of this equipment is too big to be launched by the Russian, European, and Japanese cargo ships. All of which is expected to keep the station supplied after the shuttles are retired. This mission by Atlantis is scheduled to last 11 days. NASA plans five more flights to complete the station. The shuttle is being replaced by a capsule style spacecraft called Orion that can travel to the moon and other places in the solar system in addition to the space station, which orbits about 225 miles above earth. The station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, has been under construction for more then a decade. Atlantis’s has a six man crew, which includes: Commander Charles Hobaugh, pilot Barry Wilmore, floght engineer Randy Bresnick, lead spacewalker Michael Foreman and astronauts Leland Melvin and Robert Satcher. This is Wilmore and Bresnick’s first spaceflight. A flight engineer named Nicole Scott is joining the crew for the flight to return to the space station. She is the last station astronaut slated to fly on the shuttle.

My opinion on this article is that I think all of these things about the Atlantis are very cool and interesting. Also that Atlantis’s twin booster is 24 years old. The fact that the shuttle carries 30,000 pounds (13,610 kg) of equipment is surprising to me because that seems extremely heavy, even for a space shuttle. The Russian, European, and Japanese cargo ships cannot launch this equipment because it’s too big for them. And so I wonder who is going to keep the station supplied after the shuttle are retired. This mission is scheduled to last 11 days; I thought it would be scheduled to last longer. I think it’s good that the shuttle is being replaced because who knows what could happen with something that is starting to get old. I think the $100 billion project of 16 nations that has been under construction for more then a decade is amazing. And I hope the six man crew does an excellent job on their mission. That is my opinion on this article.