Category Archives: Planes Trains and Automobiles

Space shuttle Atlantis lands for the STS-135 mission marking the final mission of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Time of landing was 5:57 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011.

The “just at dawn” landing was one of the most memorable landings ever, as shown in this picture:

Space shuttle Atlantis launches for the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station in the final mission of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff was at 11:29 a.m. (EDT) on July 8, 2011. Astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists, were on board.

The main section of the USS Johnston—sunk 77 years ago during the Battle of Leyte Gulf—has been discovered off the Philippine coast. Resting over 4 miles beneath the surface, it’s now the deepest shipwreck to ever be investigated.

With its gun turrets and torpedo racks still intact, the USS Johnston (DD-557)—a 376-foot-long (115-meter) Fletcher-class destroyer—was discovered in the Philippine Trench near Samar Island at a depth of 21,180 feet (6,456 meters). The ship sank on October 25, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Of the crew of 327, only 141 managed to survive.

The main section of the wreck, still resting upright, was discovered by Texas-based Caladan Oceanic, a private marine tech company. Caladan Oceanic surveyed the USS Johnston using the research vessel DSV Limiting Factor, according to its statement.

Read the rest of the story over on Gizmodo: here