Now, but not for long...

The American shuttle program is still flying Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavor, and with the addition of lost Columbia and Challenger, has run over a hundred thirty missions since 1981.

But the program has run its course.

The shuttles are being retired this year, the last mission being STS-133, a mission to fly Discovery to the International Space Station.

It is tentatively scheduled for September 16, 2010.