The space shuttle Atlantis on Friday successfully launched for the last time and is now zooming toward the International Space Station for a 12-day mission that will bring NASA's 30-year shuttle program to a close.
Atlantis departed at 11:29am Eastern time after a brief delay around the 30-second mark to make sure one of the structures near the shuttle was properly retracted. Several minutes after launch, it reached orbit and is now en route to the ISS.
"Atlantis and its four astronauts have left Earth for the final space shuttle mission, which will cap off an amazing 30-year program of exploration, which launched great observatories, built an International Space Station, and taught us more about how humans can live and work in space," NASA said in a statement.
Today's launch almost didn't happen thanks to inclement weather around Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA only gave the launch a 30 percent chance of being a "go," but the thunderstorms and clouds held off, allowing Atlantis to start its journey.
Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus arrived at the launch pad just before 8am this morning, and started boarding the shuttle at 8:06am. Yesterday, however, the team delayed the rollback of the protective rotating service structure (RSS) after severe thunderstorms rolled through the area. Two lightning strikes hit near the launch pad; one struck the water tower 515 feet from the pad, while another struck the beach northeast of the pad.
After NASA determined that the lightning did not damage anything on or near the shuttle, technicians started moving the RSS at 2:38pm Thursday. At 2:01am this morning, officials started fueling Atlantis with 535,000 gallons of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, a process that ended at 4:58am.
This, of course, is the final launch for NASA's space shuttle program, after more than 30 years. After Atlantis completes its nearly two-week mission, journeys to the ISS will become commercial endeavors. This time around, however, Atlantis will carry the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics, and spare parts to the ISS.
Today's shuttle launch is the third in 2011: Discovery launched in late February and Endeavour took off in May. When Atlantis returns, all three orbiters will be sent to various museums around the country.
For more see, NASA's Space Shuttle Program: A Look Back.