The final launch of the U.S. Space Shuttle program is scheduled for Friday, July 8, 2011 at 11:26 am Eastern Time. The Space Shuttle Atlantis will blast off for a 12-day resupply flight to the International Space Station. It's a historic moment for the program, as the 135th and final Shuttle flight has us reflect on the program's triumphs, such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station, as well as the tragedies of Challenger and Columbia.
You can take part in this exciting week right on your Xbox 360. Through July 11, you'll find "Celebrate the Space Shuttle" on your Xbox LIVE dashboard, in the Spotlight channel. Pop in there and you can get the details on the STS-135 mission and its astronauts, test your space shuttle knowledge, view some amazing photos, and watch the latest NBC News videos about the flight.
Xbox will be sending one of its own to the launch, as well! Xbox.com Games Editor Denny Atkin (Gamertag: Editer) was one of 150 very lucky space enthusiasts selected for the STS-135 #NASATweetup event. He'll be getting a behind-the-scenes tour of Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, July 7, and watching the launch from the press area at Kennedy Space Center, a mere three miles from the launchpad. You can follow Denny's reports on Twitter at @dennya and on his blog at datkin.net/blog. You can also search Twitter for the hashtag #NASATweetup to see coverage from all 150 attendees.