A final phone call from the Oval Office to the stars
In short: On July 15, 2011, President Barack Obama reached out to the final crew of the Space Shuttle era. It was a moment of transition, bridging the history of 135 shuttle flights with a new mandate to push beyond our orbit toward Mars.
The call took place from the White House Oval Office, connecting the President with 10 astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This group included the four crewmembers of the Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 and the six residents of Expedition 28. A 13-day voyage was undertaken by the Atlantis team—comprising Rex Walheim, Sandy Magnus, Doug Hurley, and Chris Ferguson—to transport a new technology demonstration project plus a year of provisions to the station.
Concluding NASA's Space Shuttle Program, this flight was slated to finish at the Kennedy Space Center on 21 July 2011. Throughout its history, the shuttle fleet completed 135 flights, performing critical infrastructure work in Low Earth Orbit. These achievements included the construction of the ISS, the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, and five subsequent repair and update missions for that telescope. The shuttle also served as a heavy-lift vehicle for interstellar probes, robotic spacecraft, and various satellites.
Beyond the immediate recognition of the astronauts and the thousands of workers who sustained the shuttle program, the communication signaled a strategic pivot for NASA. President Obama expressed a desire to leverage 'entrepreneurial energies' to foster competition in reaching Low Earth Orbit. The ultimate goal outlined during this transition was to move past the shuttle era to break new boundaries, specifically aiming to send Americans to Mars. This marked the shift from the shuttle's role as a reliable workhorse to a future defined by deep-space exploration.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: President Obama Speaks with Shuttle, ISS Crews
- Also: President Obama Calls Crews of Atlantis and the International Space Station
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