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York space scientists reflect on the last flight of Atlantis, the end of NASA’s space shuttle program and what the future holds

York University’s Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering in the Faculty of Science & Engineering has a long history with NASA’s shuttle program. A new video highlights significant milestones in this history and includes reflections from a number of the University’s space scientists.

Here are Professor Emeritus of Space Science Gordon Shepherd, Professor of Space Science Ian McDade and Project Scientist Brian Solheim speaking about the space shuttle program, what it has meant for their research and the future.

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The space shuttle Atlantis landed this morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis lifted off July 8 on the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135, a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis carried a crew of four and the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module containing supplies and spare parts for the space station.

The STS-135 astronauts flying the final mission are: commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.