Atlantis Space Shuttle Will Be First to Retire

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Atlantis will be the first of NASA’s three space shuttles to be retired, most likely in 2008, as the shuttle program winds down in four years, a senior agency official said Tuesday.

Atlantis’ parts will be used by the remaining shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour, until the aging spacecraft are mothballed in 2010, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told workers at the Kennedy Space Center last week.

Atlantis, which began flying in 1985, was chosen for retirement first since it was scheduled for maintenance, a process that could take two years. The $3 billion shuttle likely will have four or five more flights to the international space station before retirement.