Astronauts looking forward, the future of space

Kennedy Space Center, Fla. — such as the tick of the clock with countdown toward the Mission of the shuttle mission's final action today shuttle program of NASA astronauts in June, saying they are nostalgic about the past, hope for the future of the space. By Kim Shiflett, NASA, via AP

A team of space shuttle Endeavor's launch pad 39A on Kennedy Space Center, in the Fla, on Thursday. Left: Michael Fink, Andrew Feustel, Greg h. Johnson, Mark Kelly, Roberto Vittori and Greg Chamitoff.

By Kim Shiflett, NASA, via AP

A team of space shuttle Endeavor's launch pad 39A on Kennedy Space Center, in the Fla, on Thursday. Left: Michael Fink, Andrew Feustel, Greg h. Johnson, Mark Kelly, Roberto Vittori and Greg Chamitoff.

"I am working on the space shuttle for 24 years, more than half my life so I'm going to miss it," says astronaut Rick Mastracchio, who has flown three shuttle missions and logged almost 40 days in the field, including six spacewalks scheduled effort to run 50. p.m. today, Kennedy Space Center. NASA begins filling the ferry tank fuel in external experts Task 6:22 morning, monitoring weather goat across the South, predicted a chance of 70% of the operating condition of positive despite the threat of storms along the coast of Florida, a small brush fire smoldered 3 miles from the launch. NASA's test Director Jeff Spaulding said he expected 45,000 people to see the Kennedy Space Center And 700,000 to pour into Brevard County. President Obama and his family will participate in the launch along with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz, who was shot at the top of the month 8 and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly and mission. "This is a historic launch, "said Spaulding. Finish a airport shuttle 28 June, with the launch of Atlantis gave seed money. NASA to develop commercial rockets to transport cargo and people into a number of companies. The development is expected to take five to seven years, leaving a space transportation for the astronauts to commercial vehicles in the United States. ready for human team, NASA astronauts will rely on the Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station and begins week. Next, Mastracchio, who has been studying Russian for several yearsFollowing his training, abandoned six months on the international space station in 2013. He runs out of Kazakhstan in a Soyuz. "For me, the feeling of disappointment that the launch of people into everyday do something we do, "says astronaut Stan love, who joined the space program in 1998 flew aboard Atlantis to the international space station mission 24. Love performed two spacewalks to help join the Columbus laboratory module of the European Space Agency station, however, he says that he was excited about the future of space program. Watching for news of the endeavour, the Alpha magnetic spectrometer, which capture and analyze particles-atoms. "This can tell us something about the origin of the universe, "love said. "Reality is 10 times more than the imagination" for more information about reprints, visit & for our frequently asked questions. To report corrections to vabarot, contact standards editor Jones Brent. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send your comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, telephone number, city and country for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections. usatoday.com. We have updated the guidelines of the conversation. Changes include a brief overview of the process of reduction and explains how to use the button "report". Read more.