Several politicians used Twitter to mark the landing of the last space shuttle on Thursday morning.

The shuttle Atlantis, NASA's 135th shuttle voyage, touched down at 5:57 a.m. EDT at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA @nasahqphoto tweeted a photo of the historic landing, saying, "Atlantis touches down at Kennedy Space Center Check it out!! http://flic.kr/p/a5FASB"

The White House tweeted congratulations, as did the vice president's office.

Several members of Congress took to the Twitterverse to express mixed emotions about the past and future of space exploration.

Much of the discussion thus far about a new federal surface transportation bill has focused on the House, but the Senate will discuss its proposal Thursday morning.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will meet Thursday to begin debate on the two-year, $109 billion bill that has been proposed by committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

In contrast, the Republican-led House has said it would move forward with a smaller per-year but longer-running spending bill. The House GOP measure would spend $230 billion on transportation projects over six years.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

At least one newspaper contributor agrees with a woman who was arrested for groping a Transportation Security Administration agent.

The director of Charlotte Airport says the TSA "singled out" his facility during an investigation over a stowaway.

Authorities involved in the proposed expansion of Washington's MetroRail to Dulles International Airport have agreed to an above-ground station.

The investigation into the crash of a train on Amtrak's Downeaster route in New England could take awhile.

FAA might have to shut down some of its operations if Congress does not pass a funding extension by Friday.

The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday that new technology would allow it to eliminate identifiable images of passengers who pass through its full-body X-ray scanners.

TSA said Wednesday that new software would allow the controversial scanners, which some argue invade passengers' privacy, to identify potential threats on a generic image that would be used for all passengers. Presently, problem areas are pointed out on an image of the individual passenger that is viewed by a TSA official in a room separate from the room in which a passenger is being scanned.

TSA said the change will allow passengers to see the same image its officers see by eliminating the concern for privacy. It will also eliminate the need for the second, off-site officer, the agency said.

With both parties threatening a shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration Wednesday if an agreement cannot be reached on a short-term funding measure for the agency, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said they lawmakers should save their disagreements for another day.

“Congress needs to stop playing games, work out its differences, and pass a clean FAA bill immediately. There is no excuse for not getting this done,” LaHood said in a statement released by the Department of Transportation. “Important programs and construction projects are at stake. This stalemate must be resolved.”

The current funding measure for the FAA expires Friday. The House passed a short-term extension Wednesday, but it included changes to the Essential Air Service program that provides grants to airlines for flying to rural airports that have not been included in previous short-term bills.

Rep. Mica said Senate Democrats would be blamed for an FAA shutdown if the Senate doesn't accept the House bill.

The House on Wednesday approved a rule allowing consideration of H.R. 2553, which would extend airport and airway taxes for about six weeks. These taxes help fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) but will expire on Friday unless extended.

The rule for the bill was approved in a 242-178 vote, and members were expected to debate and vote on the extension later Wednesday.

But while the bill is cast as an extension of FAA taxes through Sept. 16, it would also make key changes to the Essential Air Service program (EAS), which subsidizes air service in smaller communities. The EAS program costs about $200 million per year.

As the House prepares to vote Wednesday on the latest short-term funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration, the White House said lawmakers should approve it without provisions that have been added by Republicans in the chamber.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said last week that he was filing the 21st consecutive short-term measure to fund the FAA with negotiations on a longer bill with the Senate bogged down. 

But Mica's bill this time added changes to the Essential Air Service program that are still being hammered out in negotiations.
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