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Sea-Space Connection

In 1986 when the shuttle orbiter Atlantis flew its second mission, WHOI Director John H. Steele was among those invited to witness the nighttime launch, because the shuttle was named in honor of WHOI’s first research vessel R/V Atlantis. After the flight, astronauts Woody Spring (left) and Jerry Ross (center) visited WHOI, and Steele presented them with a half-hull model of R/V Atlantis for NASA display. Another sea-space connection happened in 2007, with the first seafloor-to-space station phone call. In July, shuttle Atlantis will make its final scheduled flight into space.(Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)