space shuttle launch

There is a 70 percent chance that the shuttle launch on Friday will be a no go. But when the clear sky, NASA will send its last shuttle in space. For 30 years, space shuttles to launch into the sky and back home have captured the imagination of the nation.

I remember the texture of Neapolitan ice cream flavor of the Museum of Air and Space, freeze-dried in a lot of money - just like the astronauts ate.

I remember the tears of my sister. His science teacher, Mr. Wollitz, nearly won a contest: the first teacher in space. It seemed that all primary schools in Fort came to see the woman who broke the edge of the Challenger. I do not remember much, but I remember the tears of my sister.

Astronaut Shannon Lucid September 19, 1996. (AP) Remember the smile of Lucid in zero gravity, his gray ponytail flying over Shannon. It was one of the first female astronauts, and after six months living on the space station, one of the most recognized. She told us that girls could go to the moon, too.

Following the launch, the spacecraft will travel to museums, running only in our memory. Thousands of people will lose their jobs as the components of the shuttle program. Astronauts face an uncertain future. The space station could be endangered by the end of the shuttle program, former director of flight is concerned, but as Joel Achenbach writes, "is that the horse left the barn, the people."

There will be plenty of time waiting, listening to the speeches of possible missions to Mars, but now let's look back: over the missions and the moments that stand out at large in our collective memory. Check out the gallery spacecraft from1981 to 2011. And share their memories with us.