Last Days is an ongoing series by photographer Philip Scott Andrews chronicling the end of the Space Shuttle program.

Andrews on his work:

Since the first launch in 1981, The Space Shuttle program has been a symbol of American 20th-century leadership. Soon, it will be a bygone era.

I have spent the past three years photographing scenes few witness.

In the simplest terms, I hope these photographs tell a story of the work of men and women who came to work every day to launch spaceships. By doing their jobs well, these workers - from much-hailed astronauts to Harley-riding technicians - made the extraordinary task of spaceflight seem mundane.

Of course, this work was anything but ordinary. It was risky business, undertaken in the pursuit of knowledge and scientific advancement. Unfortunately, there have been tragic endings. Like the intrepid explorers for centuries before them, astronauts have lost their lives looking over the horizon at what lies beyond.

These photographs are my incomplete memorial to their achievements. I hope this work can serve as a partial archive, as a tribute to the men and women who spent their lives making spaceflight a daily activity. In looking back, we can look ahead to find the next adventure on that distant horizon.

The Atlantic’s In Focus has put together a wonderful gallery of Shuttles sailing to their new homes. Check it out for more images of the shuttles’ earthbound travels. 

One last look at the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s cockpit before it was shut down forever and all I can think is wow…look at all those buttons.

Hell’s Kitchen might get a whole lot cooler. This is the new building being proposed to house the recently retired space shuttle Enterprise in the once shady New York neighborhood by the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. 

These incredible images of the final space shuttle launch were taken by Shlomi Yoav

We’re all sad to see it go, but I think somebody might be taking the end of the space shuttle program a little TOO hard.

OrbitalFleets is an ongoing project by illustrator/graphic artist, Nate Utesch. At the retirement of NASA’s US Space Shuttle program, OrbitalFleets is a 30th anniversary poster series. Throughout the course of the year, a large, 2-color, silkscreened poster and a small, full-color, art print will be developed for each of the five orbital vehicles of the United States Space Transportation System. 

In an amazing photo essay for the April 2011 issue ofTexas Monthly, photographer Dan Winters documented the final flight of the space shuttle Discovery, launched this past February. If you’re not a subscriber or you just want to read more about the shoot, SPD talked to Dan Winters and T.J. Tucker, Texas Monthly Creative Director.