STS-135 crew module camera: astronauts rocket off the launch pad

Two space shuttle solid rocket boosters — reusable space hardware that launched on 81 missions — are being gifted to the California Science Center to become part of the museum’s launch pad display of Endeavour.

Maxar’s eagle-eyed WorldView 3 satellite captured high-resolution views Monday of NASA’s twin Apollo-era launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, both now home to new launch vehicles 50 years after humans took their first steps on the moon.

VIDEO: After a cliff-hangar countdown, Atlantis thunders to life and majestically rockets into history, putting on one last sky show for spectators on NASA’s 135th and final shuttle launch on July 7, 2011. (Membership Required)