UPDATE: Dr. Magnus and crew glided to a landing at the Kennedy Space Center early the morning of Thursday, July 21, safely back to Earth from the International Space Station, ending the U.S. shuttle program.

The last space shuttle flight launched July 8, and a Missouri S&T grad is an important part of the mission. “It only takes about 8.5 minutes to get into our initial orbit,” says NASA Astronaut Sandra Magnus. “But it’s an exciting 8.5 minutes!”
Magnus and three other astronauts are aboard Atlantis for the historic flight. They are the final four astronauts to orbit in a space shuttle.

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