It has been a while since I've written a blog related to astronomy mainly because I've been more focused on trying to help students find scholarships in our tight economy.  However, I thought it was important to note that this week NASA's final flight will take place.  

On Friday, July 8th, a small crew of four will board the space shuttle Atlantis for a 12 day mission.  This mission will mark the end of the space shuttle program.  During this mission which is scheduled to launch at 11:26am, the Atlantis will deliver a year's worth of supplies to the International Space Station. The crew will also deliver spare parts and a robotic-arm support for a spacewalk. The crew will bring home some broken equipment, junk for disposal and probably some mixed emotions as the program comes to an end.

Including this final trip for the Atlantis, NASA's track record will include:

    *135 shuttle missions
    *33 flights for the Atlantis  and
    *37 shuttle visits to help build or supply the International Space Station.

News articles suggest that NASA is under direction to aim beyond Earth's orbit, which could mean ultimately sending astronauts to an asteroid or Mars.

So, it remains to be seen what's in store for NASA next.  But one thing is pretty certain and that is we won't see anymore space shuttles except in museums.