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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The crew of STS-134 pose for a photo on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following the successful landing of space shuttle Endeavour. From left, are the European Space Agency's Roberto Vittori, Pilot Greg H. Johnson, Commander Mark Kelly, and Mission Specialists Mike Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Drew Feustel. The crew returned to Earth at 2:35 a.m. EDT on Runway 15, completing a 16-day, 6.5-million mile journey to the International Space Station.  STS-134 delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) and the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) to the International Space Station. AMS will help researchers understand the origin of the universe and search for evidence of dark matter, strange matter and antimatter from the station. ELC-3 carried spare parts that will sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired from service. STS-134 was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2011-4219

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The crew of STS-134 pose for a photo on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following the successful landing of space shuttle Endeavour. From left, are the European Space Agency's Roberto Vittori, Pilot Greg H. Johnson, Commander Mark Kelly, and Mission Specialists Mike Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Drew Feustel. The crew returned to Earth at 2:35 a.m. EDT on Runway 15, completing a 16-day, 6.5-million mile journey to the International Space Station. STS-134 delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) and the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) to the International Space Station. AMS will help researchers understand the origin of the universe and search for evidence of dark matter, strange matter and antimatter from the station. ELC-3 carried spare parts that will sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired from service. STS-134 was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2011-4219

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The crew of STS-134 pose for a photo on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following the successful landing of space shuttle Endeavour. From left, are the European Space Agency's Roberto Vittori, Pilot Greg H. Johnson, Commander Mark Kelly, and Mission Specialists Mike Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Drew Feustel. The crew returned to Earth at 2:35 a.m. EDT on Runway 15, completing a 16-day, 6.5-million mile journey to the International Space Station. STS-134 delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) and the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) to the International Space Station. AMS will help researchers understand the origin of the universe and search for evidence of dark matter, strange matter and antimatter from the station. ELC-3 carried spare parts that will sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired from service. STS-134 was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.

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01/06/2011
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sts 134 ov 105 final mission retire slf endeavour
sts 134 ov 105 final mission retire slf endeavour