Nasa

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Astronauts Ronald Garan Jr. (top) and Michael Fossum work outside the International Space Station during the last spacewalk of NASA's space- shuttle era on Tuesday. They retrieved a broken ammonia pump.

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Associated Press This frame grab from NASA-TV shows space shuttle Atlantis docked at the International Space Station on Sunday. Atlantis' current supply visit marks the final shuttle mission by NASA.

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A frame grab from NASA-TV shows space shuttle Atlantis performing a pitch maneuver as it closes in for one last docking at the International Space Station on Sunday, July 10, 2011. (AP Photo/NASA)

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BARBARA L. SALISBURY/THE WASHINGTON TIMES NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden downplayed fears that this week's final space shuttle launch marks the end of American dominance in space during a speech Friday at the National Press Club. "We are not ending human space flight," he said. "We are recommitting ourselves to it."

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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (left), accompanied by astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, husband of wounded Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington on July 1, 2011. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** In this undated photo, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (left), Arizona Democrat, is shown with her husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. (Associated Press/Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords)

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This image provided by NOAA-NASA GOES Project shows Hurricane Adrian on June 8, 2011, at 5:15 a.m. EDT. (Associated Press/NOAA-NASA GOES)

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An image made from NASA Television shows the space shuttle Endeavour as it does its fly-around of the International Space Station on Monday, May 30, 2011, before returning home from NASA's penultimate shuttle mission. The shuttle is viewed from the space station as it passes over Australia. (AP Photo/National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

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The crews of the space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station gather for a joint news conference from the space station on Thursday, May 26, 2011. (AP Photo/NASA)

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In this image from NASA television astronauts Mike Fincke, left, and Greg Chamitoff, make their way along the P3 Truss on the International Space Station as they make their way back to the quest airlock wrapping up the fourth spacewalk Friday morning, May 27, 2011. (AP Photo/NASA)

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A photo taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in 2008 shows the Martian landscape. NASA is ending efforts to revive the immobilized robot. (NASA via Associated Press)

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This image provided by NASA televsion shows the space shuttle Endeavour's tiles being inspected early Saturday morning May 21, 2011, using both the shuttle's robot arm and the International Space Station's robot arm. (AP Photo/NASA)

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This image provided by NASA on Saturday, May 14, 2011, and taken by an Expedition 27 crew member aboard the International Space Station on May 12, 2011, clearly shows the outlines of some heavily flooded agricultural fields on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. The center point for this frame is just north of Caruthersville, Mo., and west of Ridgely, Tenn. North is toward the lower right corner of the image. (AP Photo/NASA)

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This March 28, 2011 image provided by NASA shows composited images from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical and X-ray telescopes of a gamma-ray explosion designated GRB 110328A. Scientists say this blast is unusual because the effects are long-lasting. More than a week later, they continue to see high-energy radiation spiking and fading at the source. Flaring from such an event usually lasts a couple of hours. (AP Photo/NASA, Swift, Stefan Immler)

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This image provided by NASA is the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit about the Solar System's innermost planet, Mercury. The image was captured early this morning, at 5:20 a.m. EDT,Tuesday March 29, 2011. The dominant rayed crater in the upper portion of the image is Debussy. The bottom portion of this image is near Mercury's south pole and includes a region of Mercury's surface not previously seen by spacecraft. On March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011, UTC), MESSENGER became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. (AP Photo/NASA)

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FILE - This undated file image provided by NASA shows the surface of Mars as seen from the stuck Mars rover, Spirit. The prospect of ever hearing from Spirit is fading after it failed to respond to repeated calls from Earth since a little over a year ago. NASA officials say the fact that Spirit hasn't called home suggests something is more seriously wrong than just a power issue. (AP Photo/NASA, File)

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This image provided by NASA, shows a image NASA’s Messenger probe made when it flew by Mercury in September 2009. It's a close-up of its pockmarked southern hemisphere, an area that had never been seen before. Messenger will enter into Mercury’s orbit on March 17, 2011. Earth is about to get better acquainted with its oddball planetary cousin. (AP Photo/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

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In this March 15, 2011 photo provided by NASA, astronaut Scott Kelly, Expedition 26 commander, right, poses with Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. (AP Photo/NASA)

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In a photo provided by NASA, Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly wears a blue wrist band that has a peace symbol, a heart and the word "Gabby" to show his love of his sister-in-law, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as he rest onboard a Russian Search and Rescue helicopter shortly after he and fellow crew members Oleg Skripochka and Alexander Kaleri landed in their Soyuz TMA-01M capsule near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. NASA astronaut Kelly, and Russian cosmonauts Skripochka and Kaleri are returning from almost six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 25 and 26 crews. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)

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In this photo provided by NASA, Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly wears a blue wristband that has a peace symbol, a heart and the name "Gabby" to show his support for his sister-in-law, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as he rested onboard a Russian Search and Rescue helicopter shortly after he and fellow crew members Oleg Skripochka and Alexander Kaleri landed in their Soyuz TMA-01M capsule near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. NASA Astronaut Kelly, Russian Cosmonauts Skripochka and Kaleri are returning from almost six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 25 and 26 crews. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls) MANDATORY CREDIT