And now it’s down to one. Just one final flight before the end of an amazing era of space exploration.The countdown to NASA’s 135^th and final space shuttle mission is down to one week. Space Shuttle Atlantis is already on Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center awaiting a scheduled July 8 liftoff at 11:26 am.

The 12-day mission for Atlantis will mark the end of a 30-year journey for the orbital fleet. Atlantis will carry the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts for the International Space Station.

The mission also will bring a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. One spacewalk is also scheduled during the mission.

The fourth space shuttle to join the NASA fleet, Atlantis made its inaugural flight (STS-51-J) on Oct. 3, 1985. The well traveled shuttle has made 32 total flights and its 33^rd flight will mark the end of the shuttle era.

Atlantis Facts:

32 total flights

120,650,907 total miles traveled

4,648 total orbits

293 days, 18 hours, 29 minutes, 37 seconds total time in space

191 total crew members

7 Mir dockings

11 International Space Station dockings

14 Satellites deployed

Named after the two-mast boat that served as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts from 1930 to 1966, Atlantis will be go on display at Kennedy Space Center upon completion of Mission STS-135.

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While one space shuttle continues its mission at the International Space Station, NASA is preparing for the space program’s final launch in July.

NASA announced that shuttle Atlantis is targeted for an 11:40 a.m. launch on Friday, July 8 from Kennedy Space Center in central Florida. That will constitute the 135th and very last launch of the 30-year space shuttle program.

Space shuttle Endeavour, which launched May 16, is currently docked at the International Space Station and is scheduled to return to Earth on June 1. At that point, Endeavour will join the growing list of shuttles in retirement.

Atlantis is slated for a 12-day mission in July, primarily to provide equipment and supplies to the space station and to conduct maintenance. After the final shuttle launch, all space station activity will be supported by Russian rockets, or possibly by private rockets.

For more information on the space shuttle program and the final launch, visit www.nasa.gov.  

Look to the skies this afternoon in central Florida as NASA readies for the next to last launch in the space shuttle’s long 30-year history of space flight.

Carrying a nearly $2 billion physics experiment, space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center at 3:47 pm ET, weather permitting. The launch is expected to draw a crowd of nearly 750,000, including U.S. President Barack Obama’s family.

After Endeavour completes its 14-day mission to the International Space Station, the shuttle program will have just one mission remaining - the final launch of Atlantis slated for late June.

The mission for Endeavour includes the long-delayed delivery of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the Space Station, as well as supplies, spare parts and other equipment. The spectrometer the device will look for evidence of high-energy cosmic rays and space particles that could help explain the makeup and origins of the universe.

Upon Endeavoour’s return to Earth, the shuttle will become the second shuttle in the fleet to be retired, following the recent retirement of Discovery.

Endeavour, the newest of five shuttles that have ventured into space, made its inaugural mission back in 1992. This final flight will be its 25^th mission into space and the 134^th shuttle mission overall.

For updates and information on the mission, visit www.nasa.gov. For discount tickets to Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Center and discount Orlando vacation packages, go to www.westgatereservations.com.

 Space Shuttle Endeavour is set to make its final launch April 29.

NASA’s flight readiness team at Kennedy Space Center has finished its evaluations of Endeavour, its crew and all mission-critical issues, and declared everything ready to go. The shuttle is scheduled to launch at 3:47 p.m. for its final rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Having made its inaugural flight in May 1992, the final launch will represent Endeavour’s 25^th mission into space. Like its sister ship Discovery which completed its final flight on March 9, Endeavour will be retired at the end of the mission.

A third shuttle, Atlantis, will be the last and final ship to launch in late June, marking the official end of NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program.

U.S. Navy Captain Mark Kelly will command Endeavour’s final journey to the space station. He leads a 6-astronaut crew on a mission to deliver and install the alpha magnetic spectrometer-2, a $1.5-billion device that’s been in development for 12 years.

The spectrometer will allow researchers to explore the farthest reaches of the universe to detect charged particles of cosmic rays that are released by exploding stars. These could include dark matter and antimatter, two of the missing pieces in existing theories regarding the makeup of the universe.

Endeavour also will carry a variety of other space station components and supplies. All told, the 14-day mission will require the Endeavour astronauts to perform four space walks.

Today’s rainy weather is keeping space shuttle Discovery on the launch pad for at least one more day. But launch fans, be patient, as there are only a couple of chances remaining to see a shuttle lift off from central Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

A shuttle launch is truly on of the greatest and most awe-inspiring man-made spectacles in the world. And after Discovery’s launch this week, there may be only one shuttle mission remaining in late February, 2011. There may be another in summer 2011 but that mission is subject to NASA’s budget constraints.

The planned launch of Discovery on STS-133 is now slated for Friday, Nov. 5 at 3:04 p.m. Eastern Time. The orbiter is slated to go to the International Space Station for an 11-day mission. If Discovery launches Friday, it will dock with the International Space Station at 10:55 a.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 7. The mission’s two planned spacewalks will occur on Tuesday Nov. 9 and Thursday Nov. 11. Undocking will occur at 4:21 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, and landing at Kennedy Space Center will take place at 9:16 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16.

After finishing its final flight, Discovery will likely be shipped off to be permanently displayed at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.

The launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for Sunday, February, 27, 2011 at 3:35 p.m. for a 14-day mission.

If you do plan to watch the shuttle launch (or land), you can check www.nasa.gov/ for updates or changes to the schedule. You can also find a complete launch schedule for all NASA missions.

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