We Are Down to the Final Four for NASA

Their names will go down in the history books as the final four to take to space: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus, and Rex Walheim. It appears as though this foursome will use up the last fuel from NASA's space shuttle program.

The last mission on the STS-135 will be a 12 day mission to the International Space Station to carry a logistics module that contains supplies and spare parts.

One million people are expected to show up to watch the event. If you cannot make it to Florida for this historic mission, you can watch it live on July 8^th @ 11:26 a.m. EDT on NASA.gov.

National Geographic put together a wonderful history video of the Shuttles and you can watch it here.

Since 1998, more than 25 crews have docked with the International Space Station. The Space Station has captured the attention of the entire world. After retirement, the Shuttles will live on in museums across the United States.

What is next on the agenda for NASA now that the shuttle missions are wrapping up? According to Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator, "As a former astronaut and the current NASA Administrator, I'm here to tell you that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we have laid the foundation for success -- and failure is not an option."

There are also moon missions on the schedule and in February of 2012, a planned excursion to study black holes.

While I am saddened that this will be the last shuttle mission, I'm encouraged that NASA will continue to share with us the wonders of outer space.

Sources:

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news040.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/7642558.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/space-shuttle-atlantis-astronauts-final-launch/story?id=14013716