The space shuttle Atlantis has been officially cleared for its final journey. Officials at the U.S. space agency have approved the craft for a cargo run to the International Space Station on July 8. The trip will be the final flight in Nasa's 30-year-old shuttle programme. Lift-off of the shuttle, manned by a minimal crew of four astronauts, is set for 11.26am (3.26pm GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One more mission: Nasa has approved shuttle Atlantis for a final run to the ISS on July 8 . The 12-day flight was added to the shuttle's schedule last year to buy time in case Nasa's newly hired cargo delivery companies have problems getting their spacecraft into orbit. Atlantis will be delivering a year's worth of food, clothing, science equipment and supplies to the orbital outpost, a $100billion project of 16 nations that circles 220 miles (354 km) above Earth. 'This flight is incredibly important to the space station. The cargo that is coming up on this flight is really mandatory,' said NASA's spaceflight chief Bill Gerstenmaier. Earlier on Tuesday, the threat of an orbital debris impact interrupted the station's preparations for Atlantis' visit. NASA learned that an unidentified piece of space debris was likely to pass close to the station and told the crew to seek shelter in the station's two Russian Soyuz escape capsules. Typically, the station manoeuvres to avoid potential debris impacts, but the notice came just 14 hours before the closest approach, too late to plan and conduct an avoidance manoeuvre. 'We think it came within about 1,100ft of the space station. It was probably the closest object that's actually come by the space station,' Gerstenmaier said. Lift-off of the shuttle, manned by a minimal crew of four astronauts, is set for 11.26am (3.26pm GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida . Final preparations: Atlantis astronauts Sandra Magnus, Doug Hurley, Commander Chris Ferguson and Rex Walheim pose for the press last week . The six station crew members divided . into two groups of three and sealed themselves into the Soyuz capsules . about 20 minutes before the object came closest to the station, which . occurred at 8:08 a.m. EDT (1208 GMT). It . was only the second time in the station's history that crews had to . seek shelter in their "lifeboats" for an orbital debris threat. The . station's two U.S. crew members are preparing for a spacewalk during . shuttle's Atlantis' eight-day stay, a job normally undertaken by the . visiting astronauts. Nasa, . however, has been trying to keep the Atlantis crew's training as simple . as possible, as the four shuttle astronauts already are tasked to do the . work of the six or seven people normally assigned to shuttle flights. The . U.S. space agency pared down the crew size to accommodate the smaller . Russian Soyuz spacecraft that would be used to fly the Atlantis . astronauts home in case the shuttle is too damaged to attempt landing. Long history: Atlantis in orbit, as seen from the Russian Mir space station in June 1995 . Soon-to-be-retired: Atlantis undocks from the International Space Station in September 2006 . Since . the 2003 Columbia accident, Nasa has had a second shuttle on standby . for a rescue mission if needed. Atlantis, however, is the 135th and last . shuttle to fly, with no backup shuttle in waiting. The . U.S. is ending the shuttle programme to save its $4billion annual . operating costs and use the money to develop spaceships that can travel . beyond the station, such as to the moon, asteroids and eventually to . Mars. Space Exploration . Technologies and Orbital Sciences Corp. are scheduled to begin cargo . deliveries to the station next year. NASA is hoping commercial companies . will be able to fly astronauts as well, though those spaceships are not . expected to be ready for at least four to five years. Meanwhile, Nasa will pay Russia to fly its astronauts to the station at a cost of more than $50million per person.
Shuttle to launch from Kennedy Space Center on July 8 .
The space shuttle Atlantis has been officially cleared for its final journey. Officials at the U.S. space agency have approved the craft for a cargo run to the International Space Station on July 8. The trip will be the final flight in Nasa's 30-year-old shuttle programme. Lift-off of the shuttle, manned by a minimal crew of four astronauts, is set for 11.26am (3.26pm GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One more mission: Nasa has approved shuttle Atlantis for a final run to the ISS on July 8 . The 12-day flight was added to the shuttle's schedule last year to buy time in case Nasa's newly hired cargo delivery companies have problems getting their spacecraft into orbit. Atlantis will be delivering a year's worth of food, clothing, science equipment and supplies to the orbital outpost, a $100billion project of 16 nations that circles 220 miles (354 km) above Earth. 'This flight is incredibly important to the space station. The cargo that is coming up on this flight is really mandatory,' said NASA's spaceflight chief Bill Gerstenmaier. Earlier on Tuesday, the threat of an orbital debris impact interrupted the station's preparations for Atlantis' visit. NASA learned that an unidentified piece of space debris was likely to pass close to the station and told the crew to seek shelter in the station's two Russian Soyuz escape capsules. Typically, the station manoeuvres to avoid potential debris impacts, but the notice came just 14 hours before the closest approach, too late to plan and conduct an avoidance manoeuvre. 'We think it came within about 1,100ft of the space station. It was probably the closest object that's actually come by the space station,' Gerstenmaier said. Lift-off of the shuttle, manned by a minimal crew of four astronauts, is set for 11.26am (3.26pm GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida . Final preparations: Atlantis astronauts Sandra Magnus, Doug Hurley, Commander Chris Ferguson and Rex Walheim pose for the press last week . The six station crew members divided . into two groups of three and sealed themselves into the Soyuz capsules . about 20 minutes before the object came closest to the station, which . occurred at 8:08 a.m. EDT (1208 GMT). It . was only the second time in the station's history that crews had to . seek shelter in their "lifeboats" for an orbital debris threat. The . station's two U.S. crew members are preparing for a spacewalk during . shuttle's Atlantis' eight-day stay, a job normally undertaken by the . visiting astronauts. Nasa, . however, has been trying to keep the Atlantis crew's training as simple . as possible, as the four shuttle astronauts already are tasked to do the . work of the six or seven people normally assigned to shuttle flights. The . U.S. space agency pared down the crew size to accommodate the smaller . Russian Soyuz spacecraft that would be used to fly the Atlantis . astronauts home in case the shuttle is too damaged to attempt landing. Long history: Atlantis in orbit, as seen from the Russian Mir space station in June 1995 . Soon-to-be-retired: Atlantis undocks from the International Space Station in September 2006 . Since . the 2003 Columbia accident, Nasa has had a second shuttle on standby . for a rescue mission if needed. Atlantis, however, is the 135th and last . shuttle to fly, with no backup shuttle in waiting. The . U.S. is ending the shuttle programme to save its $4billion annual . operating costs and use the money to develop spaceships that can travel . beyond the station, such as to the moon, asteroids and eventually to . Mars. Space Exploration . Technologies and Orbital Sciences Corp. are scheduled to begin cargo . deliveries to the station next year. NASA is hoping commercial companies . will be able to fly astronauts as well, though those spaceships are not . expected to be ready for at least four to five years. Meanwhile, Nasa will pay Russia to fly its astronauts to the station at a cost of more than $50million per person.
final run to the ISS on July 8 . The 12-day GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida .