they have done and done a superbly and beyond my highest expectations so thank you to the ksc team. the jay-z tim and the iss team still have to get busy as well as the crew on orbit. the docking will be on sunday. is a pretty busy mission. you will see that activity on orbit and we will go through. we are going to try to extend the mission probably an extra day and they will work that for the mission management team as things go on but i urge you to follow the mission watch what is going on with iss and really take in and spend a little extra time to understand the research and the activities happening on the iss. then we look forward to landing here at ksc so again still a lot of work in front of us but what an awesome and great start to the mission today. again thank you and i look forward to your questions later. >> thanks, bill. first off i want to thank till gerstenmaier for the leadership he has provided from nasa headquarters. he is truly done an outstanding job in john chan is not here today but john i can't think of a finer program manager for the shuttle program to close

so again on half of the crew, thank you so much for the time and the attention and for the folks at ksc thank you for this fantastic vehicle. it performed absolutely wonderfully. not a glitch. and it's just as pristine as it was i hope on the day that we took it. the door opened up low bit on entry but everything is wonderful. the vehicle is great, and thank you very much. [applause] >> [no sounds] multipurpose logistic[no sounds] >> and the crew very shortly is going to be handing over to the astronaut -- heading over to the astronaut transport van. you can see some of the activity, putting on the payload bay and, things coming off the flight deck. the crew right now is expected to have a news conference at about 12 noon. that will be carried live on nasa television. we see them boarding the astro van. post landing news conference with our senior management will be at 10 a.m. eastern time. [no sounds] [no sounds] >> and there they go. [no sounds] [no sounds] >> and the crew has departed the runway, one hour and 30 minutes after landing on runway 15. so this will conclude our live landi

25 minutes after launch in order to provide appropriate visibility in case we had to return to this kscaunch site. >> does that mean that the weather reconnaissance aircraft, the sta, with rick sturko is providing a lot of input into actually what he is seeing? >> absolutely. we're relying very heavily on the observe conditions of cj in the shuttle training aircraft to see what effect they're really seeing up in the air and confirming what the meteorologists are working and seeing from their data. so combined together we get the forecasters as well as the observations and conclude with the appropriate weather. >> pete, thanks very much. we'll let you go back to listening to those reports coming back from rick sturko. we've got 11 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in this built-in hold at t-minus 9 minutes. this is shuttle launch control. >> cmtc, otc. >> go ahead. >> go to 145 standby with op 38 for the/4 activation, please. >> standing by, ma'am. >> thank you. [no audio] >> this is shuttle launch control. ten, ten minutes remaining in this planned built-in hold at t-minus 9. before we c

so a lot of progress is being made to prepare for this multiuser capability at ksc. a multiuser complex where we can have a heavy lift program that allows us to explore and commercial programs also. we announced the mcv as orion to go on that big rocket. that hardware starts arriving here at the cape later this year for the first test article. soon we'll have an announcement on the exact architecture of the rocket to go on with it. so we are making progress. we're doing all that we need to do to help move us forward. so, you know, the shuttle program has been truly phenomenal. and i take great pride in this team and thank them for all they've done. we still got a lot to do before it's over. and they're going to be doing a lot of work on orbit and then we're going to bring home them safe and i'm looking forward to the landing on the cape and shake their hands. thank you for your support and we're going to get through this and we're going to do well but awesome launch today. mike? >> thanks, bob. let's see. after years of training they tell me to do things in the right

take care of yourself, and certainly keep it here as the shuttle makes its trek toward ksc. >> absolutelylater. >>> for sports fans, football fans, the nfl lockout could end soon. the league's 32 owners are meeting in atlanta in just a few hours. david mattingly is live for us. david, we keep saying the lockout is close to ending. how close are they really? >> reporter: well, ali, this is all taking place behind closed doors. no one's being very specific. but both sides are indicating that they are ready for some football. but in washington, d.c., yesterday, the players ended their work yesterday without announcing that they were agreeing to the new collective bargaining agreement that's on the table. they have to do that before the owners here today can do anything with it. but we talked to a representative of the player -- of the owners yesterday. he sounded optimistic about what they might be able to do today. listen -- >> obviously a complicated agreement, but i think -- i think both sides are at the point where they can close. they should close, and we -- we should be in a position t

then we look forward to a landing here at the ksc. still a lot of work in front of us, but what an awesome and a great start to the mission today. thank you. i look forward to questions later. >> thank you. first, i want to thank bill for the leadership is provided human space flight from nasa headquarters. he's done an outstanding job. john shannon is not here today, but i cannot think of the finer program manager for the shuttle program, to see as did this last orbit. last, i want to thank the two mikes here. they did it truly excellent job in leading the team did this last launch. a god and died a couple times, but we found our way through it. -- it got dicey in the lifetimes, but we found our way through. it was a spectacular launch. the only a week -- the only way it would have been better if i found a way to store away. but that in a rapid or more to share with you when i shared with the launch team. bill kind of said it. words cannot express the gratitude i have for this team and the pride that i have in them. they're truly the

we'll speak live here at ksc with one of them as our coverage continues on fox news channel. >> gravityck. shepard: once nasa ends its 30-year shuttle program, the agency plans to shift its focus to deep space exploration; asteroids and mars and beyond. for now travel to the international space station will depend on the russians, but private companies are making big moves. they'll shape the future of america's space program. the company space x already has a contract with nasa to fly cargo to the international space station using this rocket, the so-called falcon 9. space x is also working on the falcon heavy which it bills as the world's large rocket. and several former astronauts have joined the company. among them, garrett reeseman who is here with me. he's flown on two shuttle missions, logged more than three months in space and now is a senior engineer for space x. great to see you. >> great to be here, shepard. shepard: well, you know, it's a sad day for a lot of people in the vav, the vehicle assembly building and beyond, but an exciting day for those who would to this in a priv

and speaking of those facilities at ksc and across the agency, we have had tremendous interest from our commercial space partners in re-using or leasing these assets - and are close to making some major announcements about them soon. the re-use of our unique nasa assets, like the orbiter processing facilities, will help these companies keep their costs down and create jobs for the space industry of tomorrow. the mid-atlantic regional spaceport is taking shape at our wallops flight facility in virginia. one of the first customers will be orbital sciences corporation, with its taurus ii rocket. last week, we issued a call for proposals for mission concept studies of a solar electric propulsion system demonstration, just one of many technologies we need to advance and validate as we seek to reach those farther destinations. consider how the architectural options for human exploration of our solar system will change as we develop the space technologies for which there is wide consensus we need: better in-space propulsion systems; refueling depots in orbit; inflatable habitats; high- reliabi

the folks at ksc and keeping track of all a small things, it would have been a nightmare for us but itoothly for all that we are working hard. and we can't even tell you how much we appreciate all the work you guys did on the plan. >> i can honesty say we enjoyed it, in some weird way. >> totally understand. >> good morning, atlantis. have a great day. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> home of some of the hardest working people who make incredible things happen. we thank you. we look forward to another great day in space. >> houston, we have gathered everybody here at the forward hatch. we have a couple different things would like to do today. the first of which is a special presentation, and that presentation is a special flag. that flag was handed to me personally just a few days before launch, and the crew of sts-135, the final shuttle mission brought to the international space station. since we have been your we prominent display the flag on the flight deck. we had it there earlier for public affairs event, but doug and i, rex and sandy, we just really like it. it symbolized what we are