Space Shuttle

The space shuttle Endeavour took its final flight this week — completing an aerial tour around California and a special detour over Tucson, AZ, to commemorate its last commander, Mark Kelly, and his wife, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. After 25 missions, 299 days in space, and 123 million miles, the space shuttle's final destination is the California Science Center in Los Angeles. As Endeavour settles into its new permanent home, we're coveting these unique Etsy finds that pay homage to space shuttles and brave explorers everywhere.

The space shuttle Enterprise took its final voyage in style today atop a 747 flying over the New York City skyline. After today's landing at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Enterprise will be ferried via the Hudson River to its new home at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. View the shuttle's Big Apple moment, complete with a Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building sendoff, as caught through Instagram snapshots in the gallery.

Partners of the International Space Station (including Russia and NASA) announced final plans for the ISS yesterday: letting it crash land in the Pacific Ocean after it is decommissioned in 2020.

Although it's taken over 10 years to build the ISS up to what it is today, now that NASA's shuttle program has been shut down and Russia plans to discontinue the Soyuz craft in 2015, there's no reason to let the ISS float around in space along with other space junk. Thankfully, there's a future for privatized space travel, but they won't be using the ISS to get from Earth to point B.

Feeling nostalgic? Check out some images of the ISS in the gallery!

NASA's space shuttle program may be over, but you don't have to say farewell forever. Take a piece of history (or just a reminder) with these space-themed goodies.

The space shuttle Atlantis touched down with its crew for the final time yesterday morning, marking the final shuttle mission for NASA. The space shuttle program may be coming to an end but research and broader NASA missions have yielded technological findings that affected life on the Earth's surface:

1. Based on lighting technology developed for plant growth research on the space shuttle, surgeons have used photodynamic therapy to treat brain cancer with successful results.
2. Algorithms developed for the Hubble Telescope were used to improve the image processing techniques in mammography.
3. Miniature sensors that explore air on other planets for traces of life eventually led to the development of hand-held devices to detect explosives and chemical agents in combat situations.

Click through the gallery to see more incredible images of Atlantis returning home.

The final space shuttle mission continues ahead of schedule this week, as the crew of Atlantis make their temporary home in space inside the International Space Station.

The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off for a 16-day mission at the International Space Station this morning. It was definitely a bittersweet event for space explorers (and wannabe astronauts) everywhere, as this was the final shuttle mission for NASA. Check out some images from the launch in this gallery, and tell us how you watched the takeoff in the comments!