Chabot Space & Science Center Hosts Celebration For Last NASA Space Shuttle Launch

OAKLAND, Calif., June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on Friday, July 8, it will be the last in the 30-year history of the space shuttle program. Chabot Space & Science Center is hosting an event for space flight enthusiasts to experience the launch together on the giant screen in Chabot's MegaDome Theater and throughout the Center. Experts will be on hand to answer questions about the launch and the significance of space shuttle program. The 12-day mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch at 8:26 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 8.

"There's a sense of community when we experience these historic events as a group," said Ben Burress, Staff Astronomer at Chabot Space & Science Center. "We're celebrating the history of human space flight and all of its technological advances and achievements. Like all explorations, it opens new possibilities to the next generation of discoveries."

NASA's space shuttle fleet began sending payloads to space with its first launch on April 12, 1981 as humanity's first reusable spacecraft. Starting with Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit repeatedly, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station.

Doors open for the event 7:30 a.m. The launch is scheduled for 8:26 a.m. PDT but is subject to change. Tickets for the event are $10 and include an all-day pass to Chabot Space & Science Center and are available by calling the Box Office at (510) 336-7373 or online at www.ChabotSpace.org. Chabot Members are admitted free.

Chabot Space & Science Center, a Smithsonian affiliate, and Bay Area Certified Green Business, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit interactive science center whose mission is to inspire and educate students of all ages about Planet Earth and the Universe. Founded in 1883, the Center is located at 10000 Skyline Blvd. just off Highway 13 in the Oakland hills. For more information, visit www.ChabotSpace.org.

SOURCE Chabot Space & Science Center