Shuttle Atlantis has a new space — inside

• Atlantis was one of 5 shuttles flown during NASA%27s 30-year space shuttle program
• It was the craft involved in the final shuttle mission%2C touching down July 21%2C 2011
• Atlantis was flown on 33 of the 135 shuttle flights%2C all of which took off from Kennedy Space Center

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Space Shuttle Atlantis is in place in its new home — suspended as if in flight — but crews still are working intensely in the visitor complex here so the shuttle exhibit will be ready for its opening day.

In a little more than three weeks:

• A replica Hubble Space Telescope will rise 11½ feet off the floor.

• The top of an orange external fuel tank that shoots above the exhibit entrance will be lifted into place.

• And graphics including a list of the shuttle's 33 missions will adorn interior walls.

"That's what we're going to be fighting against," Tim Macy, director of project development and construction, said, motioning to a looming mass of gray clouds heralding Tropical Storm Andrea. "The weather."

Much of the major work is expected to be completed this week. Macy and the hundreds of others who have worked on the project are happy to see the finishing touches coming together.

"It changes so dramatically every three or four days," he said. "You come in, and it's something new."

Space Shuttle Atlantis was one of five shuttles flown — the others were Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Endeavour — during NASA's 30-year space shuttle program. It flew 33 missions and touched down July 21, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center about 35 miles east of Orlando, the last of all 135 shuttle flights.

On June 29, the last Saturday in June, the $100 million exhibit will open. In preparation, the construction fence around the 90,000-square-foot facility will come down, and the cardboard and heavy equipment will be pulled from inside. Quotes from astronauts and shuttle workers will line the walls, and a neon art installation representing the arc of a shuttle's flight will be brightly lit.

And, of course, trinkets and souvenirs will be loaded onto the shelves in the gift shop. Tickets are available at KennedySpaceCenter.com.