Thursday Afternoon Diversion: Farewell to the Space Shuttle

By Kevin Robinson in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 21, 2011 8:00PM

Early this morning space shuttle Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center, bringing to a close three decades of manned space flight in a reusable spacecraft. Although the space shuttle had it's defects, including two major accidents that resulted in loss of life, NASA, the space shuttle crews and the scientists on the International Space Station helped push the boundaries of human understanding of mathematics, physics and both theoretical and applied technology and sciences beyond the boundaries of our planet. And while NASA has plans for the next generation of space travel and exploration, we thought it would good to take a look at some of the scientific demonstrations that America's space program brought to life for us, and for a new generation of children who's imaginations have been captured by the potential of what lies beyond the horizon.