July 12, 2011
NASA adds 13th day to Atlantis flight; shuttle now due back July 21 - STS-135 gets one-day extension
Space shuttle Atlantis will send the final sonic boom, maybe ever from a NASA spacecraft, across Central Florida shortly before 6 a.m. on July 21.
As expected, NASA increased Atlantis’ mission by one day and bumped its return to Earth to 5:56 a.m. Eastern Time, July 21.
Since Atlantis is the last space shuttle to fly, the familiar double sonic boom-b0om that rolls through the area on each shuttle return is likely to not happen again. Future NASA rockets are planned ith capsules that parchute in. Most of the private rockets planned also will use capsules with parachutes. The one exception, a space plan planned by Sierra Nevada Corp., won’t be returning at super-sonic speed.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2011/07/nasa-adds-13th-day-to-atlantis-flight-shuttle-now-due-back-july-21.html
