Space shuttle Atlantis thundered off its launchpad at Kennedy Space Center into cloudless skies Friday afternoon and headed to the International Space Station on the 32nd and final planned mission of its 25-year career.
It was a bittersweet moment for the shuttle workers standing outside the landmark Vehicle Assembly Building to watch the first of the final three launches before the shuttle fleet is retired later this year. It was also emotional for the six-member crew that strapped into Atlantis for what is expected to be the last time.
Shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said minutes before launch: "I'd like to wish you all good luck and Godspeed, and have some fun out there."
Atlantis commander Ken Ham replied: "Thank you to the thousands of folks out there who have taken care of this bird for a long time.... If it's OK with you, we're going to take her out of the barn and take her for a few more laps around the planet."
Tens of thousands of spectators crowded Space Coast beaches and causeways to catch a glimpse of the historic flight. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates; David Letterman, host of CBS' "Late Show"; and Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Space Agency, were among the crowd of 40,000 at the space center.
Ham leads an all-veteran flight crew: pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists Michael Good, Piers Sellers, Steve Bowen and Garrett Reisman, who spent three months aboard the space station in 2008.
During the 12-day mission, the astronauts will conduct three spacewalks to deliver and install a Russian-built mini-research module, a set of batteries and a dish antenna, along with other equipment needed to complete the $100-billion station before shuttle is mothballed later this year or early next.
Only two more launches are scheduled this year (2010) before the program ends. NASA's latest plan calls for Discovery to launch in September 2010, followed by Endeavour in November.
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