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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: © collectSPACE/Robert Z. Pearlman
Space shuttle Atlantis, which flew the final mission of NASA's 30-year shuttle program in July 2011, is now being prepared to be publically displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
Follow along with SPACE.com partner Robert Pearlman, editor of
collectspace.com, as he takes one last look inside the shuttle.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
The commander's (left) and pilot's (right) controls aboard Atlantis' flight deck.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
The commander's (left) and pilot's (right) controls aboard Atlantis' flight deck.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Atlantis' aft flight deck's displays and controls were used for rendezvous, docking, payload deployment and retrieval, payload monitoring, robotic arm operations, payload bay door operations and closed-circuit television operations.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Atlantis' aft flight deck's displays and controls were used for executing attitude or translational maneuvers for rendezvous, docking, payload deployment and retrieval, payload monitoring, robotic arm operations, payload bay door operations and closed-circuit television operations.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Atlantis' aft flight deck's displays and controls were used for executing attitude or translational maneuvers for rendezvous, docking, payload deployment and retrieval, payload monitoring, robotic arm operations, payload bay door operations and closed-circuit television operations.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Switches on the space shuttle Atlantis' middeck.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Atlantis' middeck, where technicians have already removed the crew equipment lockers, seats, galley, and toilet. The ladders to either side lead to the flight deck. On the far wall, normally hidden by the middeck lockers, are the orbiter's avionics control boxes.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Atlantis' middeck. Here, the crew access hatchway is seen to right, and the airlock hatchway is center. The toilet compartment, now empty, is behind the ladder to the right.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Atlantis' closed hatchway inside the airlock that led to the docking adapter used to enter the International Space Station.
See more of Robert Pearlman's final tour of space shuttle Atlantis here:
Rare Final Look Inside Atlantis.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
The view through the open airlock hatchway out into Atlantis' 60-foot-long payload bay. Seen mounted to the left sill of the cargo hold, the orbiter boom extension system, which was used in tandem with the robotic arm to inspect Atlantis' heat shield. The Canadarm robotic arm was removed from the left sill the day before these photos were taken to be shipped to Johnson Space Center in Houston for possible future use in space.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
A view from above of Atlantis' 60-foot-long payload bay.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
Atlantis' aft section as viewed from the side. The reflective insulation would normally be covered by one of the shuttle's two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engine pods. The pods are being serviced and cleaned to make them safe for Atlantis' public display.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
The circular openings for Atlantis' three main engines. The engines will not be reinstalled as they are being retained by NASA for future re-use with the heavy-lift Space Launch System. Instead, replica engines comprised mostly of spent nozzles will be installed in the complete engines' place.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
The work platforms that surround Atlantis inside NASA's Orbiter Processing Facility-2 make it difficult at times to recognize the spacecraft enveloped within. The top of Atlantis' wings can be seen just below one of the levels.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
A view of the space shuttle Atlantis' tile-covered underbelly.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
A view of the space shuttle Atlantis' wheels and tile-covered underbelly.
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Last Look Inside Space Shuttle Atlantis
Credit: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman
A view of the space shuttle Atlantis' tile-covered underbelly.
See more of Robert Pearlman's final tour of space shuttle Atlantis here:
Rare Final Look Inside Atlantis.
