Will be only ten trips. The latest after 122 missions since April 12, 1981, occurred when the launch of Columbia, milestone in the history of space exploration.

The Nasa, the U.S. space agency, announced the ultimate mission of the bus space, which will not go to space in 2010, being replaced by new vehicles such as Órion, still under development.

Latest space missions of bus

Already established are the ten releases of what is currently the only program of the American manned flights. The next is scheduled for October 8, with the Atlantis, with duration of 11 days. The goal will take astronauts to perform repairs on the Hubble, so that the space telescope can continue working well at least until 2013, when his successor, the James Webb, should come into operation

The following month will be the turn of the Endeavour, which will carry equipment and food for more astronauts could remain while the International Space Station (ISS). The other missions are also planned for the ISS, the NASA project which was accused of not giving due importance. According to the agency, the nine flights to the ISS “reflect the commitment to the construction of the station.”

In 2009, five missions are planned, vehicles Discovery (February), Endeavour (May), Atlantis (July) and, again, Discovery (October) and Endeavour (December).

The following year will be three more: Atlantis (February), Discovery (April) and Endeavour (May). The last mission, four months earlier than had been predicted earlier, components that will be installed outside the ISS, including two antennas for communication in banda S and shields to protect against micrometeoróides.

The story of the bus space

The first manned flight of the program prompted the commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen for 36 laps around the Earth in a little less than 55 hours. Before were made four flights of tests with the Enterprise.

Until now, vehicles with more missions are the Discovery, with 34, followed by Atlantis, with 29. The Challenger was only in December, burst in 1986 only 73 seconds after launch, a tragedy that killed all seven crew members.

Flights higher

The other disaster of the program occurred in 2003 when the Columbia, in 28 of its flight, disintegrated during re in the atmosphere, killing another seven astronauts. Despite the remarkable success of the programme, the tragedy prompted the U.S. government to plan the retirement of the space shuttle.

Another reason is that the space shuttle, as it is known in English, is only able to reach a low Earth orbit, enough to go to Hubble or the ISS, which are respectively to 590 and 350 kilometers of the surface. But to take the man back to the moon and to Mars for the first time, as required by the American space program will require other vehicles.