This NASA photo obtained on July 18, 2011 shows Atlantis and its Orbital Boom Sensor System robot arm extension backdropped against Earth’s horizon and a greenish phenomenon associated with Aurora Australis. One of the station’s solar array panels appears at upper left. Because of the exposure time needed for this type of photography, some of the stars in the background are blurred. The Atlantis roars back to Earth this week ending America’s vaunted space shuttle program and frustrating a generation of astronauts who see their chance to soar into the cosmos sharply limited. US astronauts bound for space will now have to hitch a ride on the Russian Soyuz rocket, at more than $50 million per seat, until a new US space craft — a commercial launcher and capsule built by a private corporation in partnership with NASA — will be ready to fly sometime around 2015.
AFP PHOTO/NASA/HANDOUT/RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “ AFP PHOTO / – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS