After 30 years America’s Space Transportation System or Space Shuttle will be coming to a close. If everything goes as planned, on July 8th, 2011 Space Shuttle Atlantis will lift off from launch pad 39/A one last time signaling an end to an era.

Some people are upset by the change. How could NASA let this happen? How will we send astronauts to our $100 billion dollar space station? We should keep flying the shuttle until we have a replacement! Each space shuttle was designed for 100 flights, after all! We’ve only had less than 1/2 of that per vehicle. Heck, Atlantis will have only flown 33 times by the time we retire the vehicle. That leaves 67 more flights by design.

Others feel the shuttle retirement is long overdue. While it is true that each orbiter was designed to fly 100 missions, it was also designed to fly around 25 times per year. Originally the shuttle program was supposed to have over 100 flights per year with a fleet of 4 vehicles making space much more accessible and inexpensive in the process. That means that the shelf life of a space shuttle is really only around 4 to 5 years, not the 25 that we have been running them at. Because of that some parts are no longer available. Some elements of each orbiter are old and need replacing. It’s time to let them retire before we have another catastrophic accident.

As we watch NASA gear up for the final flight, it is hard to not want to keep the status quo. To keep the orbiters flying. Change is always hard. But the cold harsh reality of the situation is that while the Space Shuttle is beautiful, majestic and an awe of engineering it also never lived up to its promise of inexpensive flight to space. Humanity and more specifically America has been locked to Low Earth Orbit due in no small part because of the space shuttle. Funding required to send humans back to the moon, on to Mars and beyond is tied up in this amazing yet inefficient vehicle.

I’ll be sad to see the fleet retire. Heck, I grew up with the space shuttle. Born in 1978 I never knew Apollo or even saw humans set foot on the moon. And at this stage, over 1/2 the planet shares that experience. It is time to change that. I want to be a part of a generation that doesn’t accept Low Earth Orbit as good enough. I want to be part of a generation that goes out there and conquers space flight to other alien bodies in the sky. I want to explore the moon again. I want to go Mars. I want to go beyond! The shuttle can’t do any of that.

The question now is not if we should retire the shuttle. That is all but set in stone. The parts required to fly the orbiter are no longer available, we simply can’t easily fly it again. Now the question is where do we go from here? This is the tipping point. This is the moment in time where we get to decide our future. Will we pony up and fund amazing projects coming out of SpaceX, Blue Origin, Orbital, Masten Space, Armadillo and other innovative space companies? Or will we return to the status quo and have our elected officials try to force NASA to build yet another unsustainable rocket designed by senators rather than scientists.

This is the point were we can choose positive yet difficult change, or we can choose to go back to Low Earth Orbit and leave the exploration to another generation. I choose change. How about you?

After the break we take a look at the upcoming final flight of the space shuttle. Where you can watch it, how you should watch it and what to do before and after the shuttle flight.

Speaking of NewSpace, Virgin Galactic is looking beyond sub-orbital tourist flights to LEO and even uber short trips between continents. Beyond just awesome space trips, it is possible that Virgin Galactic will change how we fly and make the world an even smaller place.

Within a thirteen-hour period Kennedy Space Center saw the final rollout of the shuttle program as Atlantis headed to Launch Complex 39A, the final landing of space shuttle Endeavour as well as Endeavour’s tow back to her OPF. However for members of the media this was just the start of the day.

Atlantis’ rollout kicked off around 8 p.m. EDT with the lumbering crawler-transporter carrying its precious cargo out to the pad at a blistering mile an hour. Workers and their families formed a precession that escorted the venerable orbiter to her date with history. The crew of the final shuttle mission was all on hand as well and conducted interviews across from the Vehicle Assembly.

The press either hunkered down or went to go get something to eat before Commander Mark Kelly and the crew of STS-134, Pilot Greg Johnson and Mission Specialists Greg Chamitoff, Mike Fincke, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori landed Endeavour one last time.

For photojournalists present the night landing wasn’t what they were waiting for. The orbiters are towed back to their OPFs and photographers are allowed to shoot images as the shuttle moves by. Most want to get a shot of the shuttle as it passes by a small pond along the route providing for beautiful reflection shots.

NASA also has what is known as a “Sunrise Photo Opportunity” where reporters are taken out to periphery of the launch pad and shoot video and pictures.

I had to leave a little early and returned to my hotel room to begin uploading video and images as well as file stories. I skipped being at KSC for the landing as; in all honesty, there really isn’t much I can do. Having covered the sunrise opportunity on a number of occasions I passed on this as well. I was waiting for what I’ve dubbed “Sunrise Photo Op – on Steroids.”

Whereas with the sunrise event takes you at the base of the launch pad, for this tour you go onto the pad itself, and are taken to various destinations on LC39A, in short, you get to walk in the footsteps of the astronauts themselves. However, if you have a fear of heights – one should not go on this tour. To add to the drama a storm blew in dousing the pad with rain and sending photographers scrambling to save their equipment.

Most (myself included) of the journalists that attended this were honored to be allowed to be included on this historical event. On the way back one photographer mumbled and grumbled about how bad it was and how he felt cheated due to the rushed nature caused by the weather. I held my tongue, but was glad when another journalist looked at him and asked him point blank, “Are you high?”

The pace takes its toll. The changing and odd hours mean little sleep, a lot of junk food and stress. A couple key themes have emerged as this period unfolds, you will get the common expressions of irritation – until the media has the opportunity to see what they have collected – and then that frustration turns to joy. But one theme although not openly stated is openly acknowledged – this must be done – history is taking place and we must chronicle it. What we are living now – is just the storm before the calm.

The tour of the launch pad was short, but some of the interviews, lift and mate as well as rollout has additional content that hit the cutting room floor. Sign up for Spacevidcast epic today for your chance to see exclusive footage only for members as well as industry interviews and additional tours. Spacevidcast epic helps us pay for the show and keeps the great content coming. Entertain your inner space geek and sign up today — http://www.spacevidcast.com/epic

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STS-135 is an official yet unfunded mission, the most complex EDL ever, China test unmanned craft, Nanosail comes back to life and more news.

The big news this last week was that Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX has become the first company in the world to have a spacecraft launch, orbit the Earth, re-enter our atmosphere and be safely recovered. Until now only 3 countries have been able to accomplish this: the US, Russia and China. Here’s a quick review of the launch itself just in case you missed it

And while watching a Falcon 9 lifoff from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, I think watching the Dragon module separate from the upper stage was even more exciting!

This is just the beginning. The Dragon capsule still needs to have the photovoltaic cells, or solar panels added for energy generation and additional maneuvering/docking tests need to be completed before SpaceX will be able to start officially carrying out its cargo transportation contract with NASA under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services or COTS contract.

Just as SpaceX is starting to spin up production, NASA is winding down the Space Shuttle program. Last week the final 3 Space Shuttle Main Engines or SSMEs were installed in Atlantis for the Launch on Need Mission and potential final flight of the Space Shuttle Program: STS-135. Each engine is 14 feet long, weighs 6,700 pounds and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle.

Now that things have settled down a bit over here, it is our hope that we will resume our live show this Friday at 0200 UTC. We’ll have our Roku HD giveaway where you can win a FREE Roku box allowing you to watch Spacevidcast live on your HDTV! The only way to win is to watch live. For those of you in the US that would be Thursday night at 6:00pm pacific standard time or 9:00pm eastern standard time. We’ll see you there!

We mentioned a couple weeks ago that STS-132 may not be the final mission for Space Shuttle Atlantis. If Endeavour has problems on what is currently slated to be the final Space Shuttle mission ever, STS-134, and needs to be rescued, Atlantis would be the standby Launch On Need vehicle. That part is set and chances are we won’t need to use Atlantis for that rescue mission. However, there is talk of NASA adding one more shuttle flight in the form of STS-135. Since Discovery and Endeavour would have already flown, the next logical choice would be… Atlantis!

After the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-132 there was a Post-Launch briefing. As soon as the question and answer period came up, talk of STS-135 began. Rather than cut this up, we’re going to show you the entire question, answer, followup question and followup answer — uncut.

So lets recap. Right now there is no funding for STS-135 which means no mission. NASA would like to get that sorted out no later than July of this year to see if they can’t fly Atlantis one more time in the June 2011 time frame. If Atlantis does fly in June 2011 that means that the Space Shuttle program would then be 30 years old which is not only a great year to end on, but what a great space shuttle to take us out!

STS-132 is scheduled to be the final flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis provided that the STS-335 Launch On Need rescue mission is not flown.

Below is the 7 hour live event Spacevidcast produced during the launch itself. This is cut in to 1 hour segments to make it a bit easier to jump around. Awesome interviews, community interaction and fun with bandwidth and Skype. Enjoy!

Hour 1 – 1300 UTC / 9:00am EDT

Hour 2 – 1400 UTC / 10:00am EDT

Hour 3 – 1500 UTC / 11:00am EDT

Hour 4 – 1600 UTC / 12:00pm EDT

Hour 5 – 1700 UTC / 1:00pm EDT

Hour 6 – 1800 UTC / 2:00pm EDT (LAUNCH!)

Hour 7 – 1900 UTC / 3:00pm EDT