atlantis

After 33 missions into space over a 30-year career, NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis has found a permanent base close to home. The shuttle is part of a new $100 million visitor center exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex which will immerse visitors in the experience of space travel.

The exhibit opens June 29 and will weave first-hand accounts from astronauts and flight engineers, along with the history of NASA, into 60 interactive displays. The displays will touch on everything from launches and orbits to how a space station is assembled.

But the centerpiece of the exhibit is Atlantis. Visitors will able to get an up-close, 360-degree view of one of the world's first reusable spacecraft. Robert Z. Pearlman of collectSpace.com recently toured the exhibit during a preview of the grand opening this week.… Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- By dawn's early light today, the shuttle Atlantis was hauled out of the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building for the last time, rolling not to the launch pad but to the spaceport Visitor Complex 10 miles away, where it will go on public display next year -- the last of the iconic winged orbiters to make the transition to Earth-bound museum duty.

Mounted atop a 76-wheel transporter, Atlantis was slowly rolled out of the VAB starting at 3:30 a.m. PT, cheered on by a crowd of several hundred spaceport workers; a throng of … Read more

Puzzle games: they're so simple, yet so addictive. If you find that you're a sucker for games that involve rearranging tiles to match them up and clear them from the board, try Atlantis Quest. This adventure-themed game takes players though ancient lands on a quest to find the lost continent of Atlantis. It's not unlike many other puzzle games in this genre, but there's a good reason for the popularity of this kind of game: it's fun!

Be aware that before downloading Atlantis Quest, you'll first have to download the Free Ride Games manager, … Read more

Get in the groove and let the good times roll. T3 Motion will launch its latest electric standup vehicle at the Big Boys Toys 2012 show this week at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai.

T3 Motion's popular electric law-enforcement patrol vehicle has about 3,000 T3 Series units in more than 30 countries around the world.

The latest version offers an easy-to-use, quick-response vehicle that helps urban cops catch the bad guys.

"We have made great headway with law enforcement in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and the Middle East, opening the door for a successful launch into … Read more

Google shuts down Google Labs for greater company focus, Darth Vader makes it to Garmin GPS devices, and the space shuttle Atlantis touches down, marking the end of NASA's shuttle program.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Space Shuttle Atlantis ends final flight

Darth Vader voice comes to Garmin GPS

Google shuts down Labs

Make multiple calls in Gmail

CBS TV shows hit Amazon Instant Video

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET (and elsewhere) for Thursday, July 21.

• The shuttle Atlantis landed in Florida this morning, ending NASA's 135th and final manned shuttle mission to space. Crew members Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Sandra Magnus, and Rex Walheim became known as the final four. The mission was virtually flawless, with the crew delivering five-and-a-half tons of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. "You know, the space station's changed the way we view our world, and it's changed … Read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--By the light of a waning moon, the shuttle Atlantis fell back to Earth this morning, dropping out of predawn darkness to close out NASA's 135th and final shuttle voyage, a long-awaited--and long-dreaded--milestone marking the end of an era for American manned space flight.

Coming home to a future clouded by tight budgets and uncertain political support, commander Christopher Ferguson guided Atlantis through a sweeping left overhead turn and lined up on runway 15, quickly descending into the glare of powerful xenon spotlights.

Approaching the 3-mile-long runway, Ferguson pulled the shuttle's nose up in … Read more

The Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on July 10, positioning the astronauts for the work they would do on the shuttle program's final flight. Here are a few photos released by NASA of that routine, yet momentous event.

The shuttle then undocked from the space station yesterday before heading home for a Thursday landing on Earth.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--After 37 space station assembly flights over the past 12 and a half years, the shuttle Atlantis undocked from the lab complex for the final time today in a long-awaited milestone that marks the beginning of the end for NASA's last shuttle mission.

With pilot Douglas "Chunky" Hurley at the controls, Atlantis pulled away from the station's forward docking port at 2:28 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed through orbital darkness 243 miles above the Pacific Ocean east of Christchurch, New Zealand.

"Physical separation, Houston," commander Christopher … Read more