Published reports claim three fatalities and some 50 injuries as a result of the 16 September 2011 crash at the Reno Air Races in Stead, Nevada. While the NTSB and FAA websites are silent on details as we go to publish, other reports claim that the aircraft was flown by veteran pilot Jimmy Leeward.

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Flying Atlantis on this historic mission were Shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim. The focus of STS-135 was to deliver supplies to the ISS that will help sustain its operation in the post-shuttle era. There is no spacecraft, manned or unmanned, currently available that can lift the payloads of a Space Shuttle.

Video of the historic launch was somewhat marred by the clouds that threatened the launch but the last orbiter to fly in the shuttle program was International Space Station bound with her crew and payload.

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The space agency says the launch team will closely monitor the weather throughout the process. Weather remains at a 30 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff at 11:26 a.m. Teams are not working any issues that would delay the launch, according to NASA.

According to a statement released by NASA, 18 May 2011, the discovery is based on a joint Japan-New Zealand survey that scanned the center of the Milky Way galaxy during 2006 and 2007, revealing evidence for up to 10 free-floating planets roughly the mass of Jupiter. Also known as orphan planets, these objects are difficult to spot, and had gone undetected until now. The planets are located at an average approximate distance of 10,000 to 20,000 light years from Earth.