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The picture is part of an independent series being created by photojournalist Philip Scott Andrews to document the end of the U.S. space shuttle program. In January 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush called for the shuttles to be retired in the wake of the shuttle Columbia disaster, in which seven astronauts perished when the vehicle disintegrated during reentry.
The shuttle Atlantis lifted off on the final space shuttle mission on July 8 and is close to the end of its 12-day visit to the International Space Station (ISS).
