Atlantis closed in Sunday for one last docking with the International Space Station, an emotional milestone for this last journey by a NASA shuttle.
Excitement grew throughout the morning – in orbit and at Mission Control – as the miles melted between the two spacecraft with every circling of Earth. Every landmark, or rather spacemark, of this final two-week shuttle mission is being savored; Friday’s flawless liftoff set the tone.
On Tuesday, the final spacewalk will take place. Astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan Jr. will venture out to retrieve a broken ammonia pump outside the International Space Station. They will stow the pump aboard the docked shuttle Atlantis, so it can be returned to Earth for evaluation. The two will also install a robotic refuelling experiment on the 394-kilometre-high outpost.
Watch the Atlantis final Space Shuttle mission livestream below:
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