Bad Astronomy

Multi-billion dollar traffic jam

I’ve been stuck in some epic traffic jams, but I think this one wins:

Those are the Space Shuttle orbiters Endeavour and Atlantis [click to embiggen] at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour has just finished being processed for travel, and will soon be on its way to California to eventually go to the California Science Center in LA. Atlantis is staying at Kennedy Space Center itself at the Visitor’s Center.

Funny - a year ago I posted a similar picture Endeavour and Discovery, saying it was the last time we’d see a shot like that. I guess I was wrong.

Either way, there won’t be too many more like this… but soon we’ll be launching humans back into space once again. My hope is that when we do it’ll be easier, less expensive, more reliable, and the beginning of not just tentative toes-in-the-water, but plunging full into the ocean of space.

Image credit: NASA

Related Posts:

- Discovery makes one final flight… but we must move on.
- Two Shuttles, nose to nose
- The last views of Endeavour and ISS
- The fiery descent of Atlantis… seen from space!