NASA gave its space shuttle program a final send-off in Houston Wednesday about a month after the last shuttle mission ended in a successful return from the International Space Station.
The space agency hosted farewell celebrations throughout August at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama before putting a final stamp on the historic program with a final shindig at Houston's Johnson Space Center on Saturday.
"We're here to celebrate an incredible 30-year run," NASA administrator and former shuttle astronaut Charles Bolden told NASA employees and their families at the Johnson Space Center's "Salute Our Space Shuttle: Foundation for Our Future" event, according to Space.com.
"All of you need to leave here tonight with your chest stuck out as proud as you can be because we have done something that no one else was ever able to do and no one will ever do again."
When shuttle Atlantis landed successfully at Kennedy Space Center following its 12-day mission to the orbiting space station, it marked the 133rd landing in the shuttle program's storied historyand the final one.
"This final shuttle flight marks the end of an era, but today, we recommit ourselves to continuing human space flight and taking the necessaryand difficultsteps to ensure America's leadership in human spaceflight for years to come," Bolden wrote in a blog post on that historic day.
Now, the thousands who worked for the shuttle program face the reality of a massive downsizing plan at the space agency as NASA transitions away from manned spaceflight to exploratory missions utilize unmanned, remote-controlled spacecraft that will visit planets and asteroids far beyond Earth's orbit.
While Thursday marked the official first day that on-going shuttle-related work becomes the province of NASA's Space Shuttle Transition and Retirement Office, Ellen Ochoa, deputy director of the Johnson Space Center and a four-time shuttle astronaut, had these words for the five shuttles that made up NASA's fleet:
Columbia: "From the day she first arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in March 1979 until the day we lost her over the skies of Texas, Columbia served as the vanguard for the space shuttle program, a beloved reminder of American ingenuity and the invincible human spirit."
Challenger: "The loss of Challenger and its crew in the piercing cold of that January morning could not and will never diminish the wonder of its brief history, instead reminding us how difficult and unforgiving human spaceflight is and can be and the fortitude of this nation to return to flight safer, wiser and more dedicated than ever."
Discovery: "The fleet leader in space shuttle program history, Discovery spent a full year in space over its 39 missions. Called upon to visit two space stations, the Hubble Space Telescope and to return Americans to space, Discovery served as the vehicle for some of the most daring missions in shuttle history."
Atlantis: "By the time it landed on July 21 to complete the space shuttle program's storied 30-year history, Atlantis orbited the Earth 200 times on its 33 missions and entered the record books as the first shuttle to dock with the Russian space station Mir and the last shuttle to undock from the International Space Station."
Endeavour: "Endeavour ended its career in the pre-dawn hours on June 1, lifting the spirits of the nation and the world through its heroics and its contributions to furthering human exploration. During its time in orbit, Endeavour saved the Hubble Space Telescope on the first mission to service the iconic observatory and it also delivered the first U.S. element of the International Space Station to orbit to begin assembly of the complex that is now our national laboratory in space."