Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson displays a U. S. flag that flew aboard NASA's first space shuttle mission. The banner will be left aboard the station to be reclaimed by the first crew of a commercially launched U. S. transport to reach the outpost. Pictured clockwise are the crews of Atlantis and the International Space Station, Mike Fossum, Alexander Samokutyaev, Satoshi Furukawa, Andrey Borisenko, Sergei Volkov, Ron Garan, Doug Hurley and Rex Walheim. Photo Credit/NASA TV
The Atlantis astronauts, nearing the end of the final shuttle program visit to the International Space Station, are leaving a small U. S. flag to be reclaimed by the crew of the first commercially launched U. S. spacecraft to reach the orbital outpost.
The flag flew initially aboard STS-1, NASA’s first space shuttle mission, which was launched in 1981.
President Obama mentioned the “flag challenge” in his call to the crews of the shuttle Atlantis and the space station on Friday.
“I understand it’s going to be sort of like a ‘capture the flag’ moment here for commercial spaceflight,” Obama said. “So good luck to whoever grabs that flag.”
On Saturday, Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim presented more details in a tribute to the men and women who have worked on the shuttle since 1972 — the year NASA received a directive from then President Nixon to proceed with development.
“It’s image is iconic,” said Ferguson of the shuttle. “You cannot go anywhere in the world where the image of the space shuttle is not recognized.”
The 13-day Atlantis mission represents a transition for NASA, as the agency opens an era when U. S. companies will take over the duties of re-supplying the space station and eventually transporting astronauts to and from the orbiting science laboratory.
NASA in turn will invest in technologies for a new spacecraft and launch system suitable for sending American explorers on missions beyond low Earth orbit, to the moon, the asteroids and Mars — destinations the space shuttle was not designed to reach.
The crew of the first commercial spacecraft to reach the station will return to Earth with the STS-1 flag, where the banner will again be held until it can accompany the first crew of U. S. astronauts assigned to a mission beyond low Earth orbit, said Ferguson.
Atlantis launched July 8 with enough food, spare parts and research gear to sustain the station through 2012, presumably enough time for the first U. S. commercial re-supply companies to establish a delivery rhythm.
The shuttle crew is scheduled to complete the cargo exchange on Sunday, undock from the space station early Tuesday and descend to Earth early Thursday for a landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The touchdown is scheduled for 5:57 a.m., EDT.