Photo gallery: Memorable space shuttle moments
Images of memorable space shuttle moments. The launch of Atlantis, the final space shuttle mission, is scheduled for July 8, 2011.
Space Shuttle Memorable Moments
FILE - This Monday, Nov. 25, 2002 file picture shows the space shuttle Endeavour over New Zealand as it approaches the International Space Station for docking.
Final Launch of Challenger
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A whole generation _ including McAuliffe's own students _ has grown up since McAuliffe and six other astronauts perished on live TV on Jan. 28, 1986, a quarter century ago on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Now the former schoolchildren who loved her are making sure that people who weren't even born then know about McAuliffe and her dream of going into space.
CHALLENGER EXPLOSION
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo, the space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center. A whole generation _ including McAuliffe's own students _ has grown up since McAuliffe and six other astronauts perished on live TV on Jan. 28, 1986, a quarter century ago on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Now the former schoolchildren who loved her are making sure that people who weren't even born then know about McAuliffe and her dream of going into space. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver, File)
Space shuttle Columbia
FILE - In this Friday, July 23, 1999 picture provided by NASA, flaming exhaust thrusts from the solid rocket boosters and main engines of the space shuttle Columbia as it launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. into the night sky.
TETHERED SATELLITE
FILE - This July 1992 file picture provided by NASA shows the Tethered Satellite System during an experiment on the space shuttle Atlantis. On Sunday, Feb. 25, 1996, the Italian satellite, which was attached to the space shuttle Columbia, floated off into space after its cable broke.
Space Shuttle Memorable Moments
FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003 file photo, debris from the space shuttle Columbia streaks across the sky over Tyler, Texas.
Budarin Musabayev
FILE - In this Monday, June 8, 1998 image made from video provided by NASA, Russian space station Mir cosmonauts Nikolai Budarin, top right, and Talgat Musabayev say goodbye to the crew of the space shuttle Discovery as they close the hatch linking the two spacecraft before undocking. Discovery was the ninth and last shuttle to dock with Mir.
Space Shuttle Memorable Moments
In this May 13, 1992 picture made available by NASA, astronauts Richard Hieb, Thomas Akers and Pierre Thuot grab the Intelsat VI satellite from the ledges of the payload bay of the space shutle Endeavour in the first three-man spacewalk. The satellite had been stuck at a uselessly low orbit for more than two years.
Space Shuttle Memorable Moments
FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2006 photo provided by NASA, the space shuttle Discovery, its KU-band antenna at right, approaches the International Space Station.
SPACE SHUTTLE LIFTOFF
FILE - In this Tuesday, July 26, 2005 file picture, crowds watch as the space shuttle Discovery lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The seven astronauts launched into orbit on America's first manned space mission since the 2003 Columbia disaster.
John Grunsfeld, Hubble Space Telescope
FILE - In this Monday, May 18, 2009 image made from video provided by NASA, astronaut John Grunsfeld is reflected on the surface of the Hubble Space Telescope as he works to upgrade the orbiting observatory during a spacewalk on the fifth and final repair mission for the then 19-year-old telescope.
SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR
Space shuttle Endeavour, STS130, blasts off, Monday, February 8, 2010, from Launch pad 39A on a construction mission to the international space station. This was the last scheduled nighttime shuttle launch with only 4 more launches left until the shuttle program ends.
Space Shuttle
In this image provided by NASA, astronaut Nicholas Patrick participates in extravehicular activity as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the spacewalk, Patrick and fellow astronaut Robert Behnken removed insulation blankets and launch restraint bolts from each of the Cupola's seven windows.
Space Shuttle
This image provided by NASA Dwarfed by space shuttle Discovery, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio (right) and Clayton Anderson are seen working in Discovery's aft payload bay during the mission's third and final session of extravehicular activity Tuesday April 13, 2010 as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. Earth's horizon and the blackness of space provide the backdrop for the scene.
Space Shuttle Memorable Moments
FILE - This Saturday, May 28, 2011 photo provided by NASA shows the Endeavour with a nighttime view of the Earth and a starry sky, while docked at the International Space Station during the Endeavour's final mission.
Space Shuttle Memorable Moments
FILE - This May 23, 2011 photo made by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking and released by NASA shows the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour, left, at an altitude of approximately 220 miles. A Soyuz capsule had never headed for home while a shuttle was parked at the space station, providing a rare opportunity for the photo session.
The shuttle Atlantis lifts off on Friday, July 8, for the final space shuttle mission.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With a cry from its commander to "light this fire one more time," the last shuttle thundered into orbit Friday on a car…