The Space Shuttle Atlantis has just landed safely, completing the last of its 33 missions, this one with the official code STS-135. Its retirement marks the end of the Space Shuttle program.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis takes its name from the sailing ship RV Atlantis, built and used for years for marine scientific research.

Atlantis took off for its first flight on October 3, 1985. During that and other flights several satellites were put into orbit. In other flights, they launched the space probe Magellan, which aimed to map the surface of Venus, and the Galileo space probe, which was designed to study Jupiter and its satellites.

Other instruments placed into orbit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis were the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1), and the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences – 3 (ATLAS-03).

On June 29, 1995, Atlantis was the first Space Shuttle to dock to the space station MIR. Six more flights included docking to the MIR and in later years on several occasions, it docked to the International Space Station carrying modules, tools, and supplies.

On May 13, 2009, the Hubble Space Telescope was hooked during a service mission in which two new instruments were installed and some components were replaced. During the same mission astronaut Michael Massimino was the first person to use Twitter in space.

According to the original schedule, the Space Shuttle Atlantis was to be retired in 2008 but later extensions and changes of plans led to more flights. Now that retirement time has arrived Atlantis will be exposed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

It’s actually right that the Space Shuttle Program ends because it’s technology from the ’70s which had some upgrades. The problem is that there are no new spaceships ready to replace them. For now, the upcoming missions that will keep contact with the International Space Station will use the Russian Soyuz spaceship.

There are various projects for commercial space flights and new space programs in China and India, do we need them to become a reality in order to stimulate new competition? It’s a bitter irony that the Space Shuttle program ends on the day of the anniversary of the first landing on the Moon.

I think the basic problem isn’t whether to return to the Moon or go to Mars but really getting into the idea of going into space to build something where someone can live permanently. On Earth we’re almost seven billion people and despite the wars that have costs vastly superior to all space programs the population continues to increase.

Some say that before going into space we should fix the problems we have on Earth. As commendable as the desire to solve problems such as the various conflicts that exist or the hunger in the world can be, in my opinion, there’s an error of perspective.

In the ’60s spaceships went farther and farther from the Earth until astronauts were able to see the whole planet from their position. Unfortunately, too many humans can’t see beyond their noses, so seeing the whole Earth might be useful especially to the younger ones to get used to treating the planet as a single entity with no artificial divisions.

The space program has also led to major technological breakthroughs: in a time of economic crisis new major investments by the most advanced nations could bring new large positive effects for a new economic development.

Some say that it’s a dream while now we need real solutions. Why can’t dreams be fulfilled? How much progress has been made thanks to the work of dreamers?

Again I think it’s a matter of perspective. Those who live their lives with their head bowed can see only a small portion of land around them but those who live standing tall can see far away and in that situation, the sky’s the limit.