Oh Noes, did I miss the space shuttle?

[Pengwuino]

Oh Noes, did I miss the space shuttle??

I was reading an article about the Atlantis space shuttle having an all veteran flight crew... and then I noticed... are these the last flights of the space shuttle?? For a while I've hoped to see a shuttle launch before they were all decommissioned. Have I missed my opportunity?

 

[Cyrus]

The last launches are slated for November.

 

[Pengwuino]

Ahhhh I don't think I'd be able to get out to see one. Is it even worth making a trip over? Not going JUST for a launch, obviously got to plan some other things out to make it worth a trip from california... but is it really worth seeing?

 

[leroyjenkens]

So no more shuttles? What will they use to go to outer space?

 

[D H]

For the time being, Russian rockets.

 

[Norman]

You have not missed your opportunity to see a shuttle launch (yet). Today at 2:20 ET, STS-132 is planned to launch. This will be the last scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis. Though it will be prepared as a backup for future launches.

Discovery will launch in sometime around Sept. 16. That will be Discovery's last mission.

Endeavor will launch sometime mid to late November.

You can see the complete launch schedule here: http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html