It was also originally scheduled to coincide with Expedition 26 before delays in the Space Shuttle launch schedule pushed it past that Expedition. STS-134 was planned to be the final regularly scheduled mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program, but with the passing in 2011 of an appropriations bill authorizing the conversion of STS-335 to STS-135, this was no longer the case. In the spring of 2009, the Obama Administration included funds for the STS-134 mission in its proposed 2010 NASA budget. Bush had previously opposed any additional shuttle missions, as they could delay the transition to Project Constellation. It was amended and passed by the full Senate on September 25, 2008, passed by the House on September 27, 2008, and signed by President George W. Senate version of the NASA Authorization Act that was unanimously approved by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on June 25, 2008. The same mandate was included in the U.S. On June 19, 2008, the United States House of Representatives passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2008, giving NASA funding for one additional mission to "deliver science experiments to the station". The Space Shuttle had been scheduled to be retired from service after STS-133, but controversy over the cancellation of several International Space Station components, most notably the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, in order to meet deadlines for the retirement of the shuttle, caused the United States Government to consider ordering an additional mission. astronaut to fly with the shuttle.īackground STS-134 Space Shuttle launch Roberto Vittori from Italy was the last non-U.S.Sturckow as backup commander for this mission. On January 13, 2011, after the 2011 Tucson shooting in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly's wife, was critically wounded, NASA named Frederick W.NASA announced the STS-134 crew on August 10, 2009. The crew arrive at the Shuttle Landing Facility in T-38 jets on April 26, 2011. Crew Mission poster, based on a Star Trek promotional poster. Endeavour launched successfully at 08:56:28 EDT (12:56:28 UTC) on May 16, 2011, and landed for the final time on June 1, 2011. The first launch attempt on April 29, 2011, was scrubbed at 12:20 pm by launch managers due to problems with two heaters on one of the orbiter's auxiliary power units (APU). STS-135, flown by Atlantis, took advantage of the processing for STS-335, the Launch on Need mission that would have been necessary if the STS-134 crew became stranded in orbit.Ĭhanges in the design of the main payload, AMS-02, as well as delays to STS-133, led to delays in the mission. However, in February 2011, NASA stated that STS-135 would fly "regardless" of the funding situation. STS-134 was expected to be the final Space Shuttle mission if STS-135 did not receive funding from Congress. Mark Kelly served as the mission commander. This flight delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station. Rounding out the jacket's accessories were a lapel pin displaying NASA's shuttle program commemorative logo and a name tag.STS-134 ( ISS assembly flight ULF6) was the penultimate mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the 25th and last spaceflight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Obama reached out to Kelly in January after the astronaut's wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot. STS-134, the second-to-last mission of the shuttle program and the final flight for orbiter Endeavour was commanded by Mark Kelly. STS-31 was piloted by Charles Bolden, who Obama appointed as NASA Administrator. The earlier, sewn at top, represented the mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. On the left chest were the patches for STS-31 and STS-134. Below the agency's emblem on the right chest was the STS-104 patch, the 105th shuttle mission and Kavandi's third and final flight. The front of the jacket was adorned with an additional three missions' patches, as well as the NASA insignia. Sewn on just above it, was the patch for the very first shuttle flight, STS-1, which launched in 1981. The President's jacket displayed the embroidered patch for the final space shuttle mission, which landed in July, on the right sleeve. NASA astronauts have worn the same style jacket for decades when they trained in T-38 supersonic jets. STS-135 mission commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists, together with flight operations director and astronaut Janet Kavandi presented the President with his very own blue flight jacket. The commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama, donned the jacket for a different type of commander while meeting with the astronauts who flew NASA's final space shuttle mission inside the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday (Nov.
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