On March 6, 1985, NASA's newest space shuttle, Atlantis, made its
public debut during a rollout ceremony at the Rockwell International manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California. Under construction for
three years, Atlantis joined NASA's other three space-worthy orbiters, Columbia, Challenger, and Discovery, and atmospheric test vehicle
Enterprise. Officials from NASA, Rockwell, and other organizations
attended the rollout ceremony. By the time NASA retired Atlantis in
2011, it had flown 33 missions in a career spanning 26 years and flying
many types of missions envisioned for the space shuttle. The Visitor
Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida has Atlantis on
display. 

On Jan. 25, 1979, NASA announced the names of the first four
space-worthy orbiters - Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis.
Like the other vehicles, NASA named Atlantis after an historical vessel
of discovery and exploration - the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's two-masted research ship Atlantis that operated from 1930 to 1966. On
Jan. 29, NASA signed the contract with Rockwell International of
Downey, California, to build and deliver Atlantis. Construction began
in March 1980 and finished in April 1984. Nearly identical to Discovery
but with the addition of hardware to support the cryogenic Centaur
upper stage then planned to deploy planetary spacecraft in 1986, plans
shelved following the Challenger accident. After a year of testing,
workers prepared Atlantis for its public debut. 

Three days after the rollout ceremony, workers trucked Atlantis 36
miles overland to NASA's Dryden, now Armstrong, Flight Research Center
at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, for final
preparations for its cross-country ferry flight. In the Mate Demate
Device, workers placed Atlantis atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a
modified Boeing 747, to begin the ferry flight. The duo left Edwards on
April 12, the fourth anniversary of the first space shuttle flight.
Following an overnight stop at Houston's Ellington Air Force Base, now Ellington Field, Atlantis arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida on April 13. 

Four months later, on Aug. 12, workers towed Atlantis from the
processing facility to the assembly building and mated it to an
external tank and twin solid rocket boosters. The entire stack rolled
out to Launch Pad 39A on Aug. 30 in preparation for the planned Oct. 3
launch of the STS-51J mission. As with any new orbiter, on Sept. 13
NASA conducted a 20-second Flight Readiness Firing of Atlantis' three
main engines. On Sept. 16, the five-person crew participated in a
countdown demonstration test, leading to an on time Oct. 3 launch.
Atlantis had joined the shuttle fleet and begun its first mission to
space. 

Over the course of its 33 missions spanning more than 26 years,
Atlantis flew virtually every type of mission envisioned for the space
shuttle, including government and commercial satellite deployments,
deploying spacecraft to visit interplanetary destinations, supporting scientific missions, launching and servicing scientific observatories
such as the Hubble Space Telescope, performing crew rotations and
resupplying the Mir space station, and assembling and maintaining the International Space Station. Atlantis flew the final mission of the
shuttle program, STS-135,  in July 2011. The following year, NASA
transported Atlantis to the Kennedy Visitor Center for public
display.  


https://www.nasa.gov/history/40-years-ago-space-shuttle-atlantis-makes-its-public-debut/

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Eduardo.M - Brasil
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