- Missions (9)
- Atlantis (OV-104) Background Atlantis, the fourth orbiter to become operational at Kennedy Space Center, was named after the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts from 1930 to 1966. The two-masted, 460-ton ketch was the first U.S. vessel to be used for oceanographic research. Such research was considered to be one of the last bastions of the sailing ...science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/atlantis.html