The NASA Shuttle Atlantis, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis OV-104 (OV stands for Orbital Vehicle), is the fourth operational shuttle built by the U.S. space program [Wiki]. The shuttle has been utilized in several missions, from performing military projects during its first flight in 1985, to deploying probes Magellan and Galileo and making seven flights to the Russian space station Mir. The shuttle has also taken a four-year temporary retirement before going back into use in 2006.

The Atlantis shuttle has gone through a lot throughout its service to U.S. astronauts and has even been used in media features such as:

* In the film Deep Impact the crew used the Space Shuttle Atlantis to get to the mission craft, Messiah.
* In the game The Dig, an unnamed shuttle participates in the mission of firing the asteroid. However in the game demo, the name “Atlantis” is mentioned.
* In the film Armageddon, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is destroyed in orbit at the beginning of the film by a meteor shower.
* In the episode of the animated show Recess which was called “Space Cadet,” the class watches a space shuttle launch. The vehicle is Atlantis.
* In the movie SpaceCamp, the space shuttle Atlantis is featured. The children were onboard the shuttle during an engine test when one of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters was ignited.
* In the free space simulator Orbiter created by Martin Schweiger, Atlantis is the default space shuttle you can pilot.
* In the PlayStation game “Treasures of the Deep,” the player goes on a mission to destroy the shuttle’s remains after it sinks in the Mariana Trench.
* In the Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising Atlantis was pulled off the launch pad just before a scheduled mission to allow the military to switch out her original payload with additional reconnaissance satellites just before the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union.
* In a Bill Nye the Science Guy Episode “Space Exploration,” Atlantis as well as Columbia make an appearance.

[Source Wikipedia]

The Atlantis is, without a doubt, one of my favorite space vehicles (after the Millennium Falcon and the Gunstar ships from The Last Starfighter), and I was troubled when its fuel tank was damaged by a dastardly hail storm on February 26th 2007. Since the shuttle is planned to be retired in 2008 in shuttle mission ST-125, I wasn’t sure if the Atlantis would make its scheduled launch dates for ST-117, which should have occurred in March but got delayed due to the hail storm damage.

But on April 10, NASA stated that it is “targeting June 8 as the next possible launch opportunity for space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-117 mission to the International Space Station”, and went on to say that “the damage required engineers to repair approximately 2,660 sites on the tank.” That hail can sure be a pain in the American Science and Surplus, since it cost NASA so much money.

(It seems so fitting) Hail Atlantis! If you have never heard the song ‘Atlantis’, I urge you to watch this video, lest you be forever in the dark about its pleasing aural beauty: