From 1994 to 2001, Jones flew on four space shuttle missions, including one to the International Space Station.

NPR: Former Astronaut on NASA Risk Assessment

It will be one of the last space shuttle missions and the launch will be attended by President Barack Obama and other VIPs.

BBC: Gabrielle Giffords can attend husband's shuttle launch

Representative Giffords is a true Arizona gal, a blue-dog Democrat who prefers riding horses and motorcycles to limos, backs a strong military and is, in fact, married to Navy pilot and combat veteran Mark Kelly (he flew 39 missions in Operation Desert Storm and now commands space shuttle missions).

FORBES: The Woman Behind the Olbermann Tempest

The U.S. perfect it with putting a man on the man, then with a series of modern high tech space shuttle missions and Mars ROVERS. But now, the final frontier captains are more likely to be Russians, with their hopes for a human Mars landing someday, or Chinese, with a new China space station due within the next 8 years.

FORBES: China's Space Age Grows Up As U.S. Space Race Winds Down

It concluded that the agency could not move forward "without radical reform" and recommended cuts in the space station's workforce and shuttle missions.

BBC: Nasa in dock for overspending

The space shuttle has flown more than 100 missions.

CNN: Bush: 'It is time for America to take the next steps' in space

The space agency was told to provide future shuttle missions with the ability to inspect and repair damage.

ECONOMIST: The Hubble space telescope

The space shuttle program cost more and was less safe than the Apollo missions that preceded it.

FORBES: What Bygone Absurdities Can Tell Us About Our Future

They were trying to establish the Space Shuttle as a regular and reliable means of conducting scientific and commercial missions in space.

NPR: Challenger: Reporting a Disaster's Cold, Hard Facts

After 25 years, 32 successful missions, and more than 120-million miles traveled, space shuttle Atlantis made what's likely to be its last landing yesterday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

ENGADGET: Space Shuttle Atlantis ends its run of predicting disaster for other NASA shuttles

With the White House and Congress pressuring NASA to reduce space station costs and construction delays, the agency felt compelled to adhere to a fixed shuttle flight schedule for station missions, which would affect non-station missions as well, the report said.

CNN: Shuttle not likely to fly by spring, experts say