Atlantis undocks from station ready for Thursday landing

Space shuttle Atlantis has undocked from the International Space Station, as commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim prepare to fly the venerable vehicle into history. Atlantis "weighed anchor" from the orbiting outpost at 06:28 GMT, ahead of a scheduled landing at …

[Richard Gadsden 1]

The shuttle was once accused of being a truck

And Raffaelo really is a truck mission - take up spare parts, bring back rubbish.

Still, she's a truck that's aiming high!

[Winkypop]

Shuttle off this orbiting coil...

Perhaps the shuttle made space travel appear boring and mundane to the public.

If only there was a way to impress on people how totally awesome these 'everyday' feats remain.

[Jim 59]

Shuttle

I recall watching the very first shuttle landing on John Craven's Newsround in April 1981. Amazing. It's sad that the shuttle missions are ending. Reading about the latest shuttle missions always cheers the spirit somehow. Now we will have no Concorde and no Shuttle. For a while anyway.

[Chronos]

Re: Shuttle

Now I understand what's so important about space exploration. It's not the science or any of that technical stuff, it's something *we* can all get behind, humanity as a whole, united in common cause. It has to be worth it for that alone.

Amazing how one small word can change perceptions.