The space shuttle Atlantis is seen shortly after the rotating service structure (RSS) was rolled back at launch pad 39a, Thursday, July 7, 2011 at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis is set to liftoff Friday, July 8, on the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135, a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – Record-breaking crowds have gathered here this morning for the hoped for flight of space plane Atlantis – the last shuttle out of town.
It may be group optimism, but this morning the sky seems more agreeable than first predicted.
As for the four-person crew of space shuttle Atlantis, they are now strapped in tight for an expected 11:26 a.m. East Coast time. There is a 10-minute launch window.
Given an on-time departure, the Atlantis STS-135 mission will head for the International Space Station (ISS). Once attached to the ISS, tons of supplies are to be transferred to the huge orbiting complex from the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module now tucked inside Atlantis.
The record-setting number of eye-witnesses viewers of the shuttle departure — both on-site here, as well as those gathered along highways and specially set-up sites – could well total the largest crowd ever gathered for a shuttle mission.
Landing is slated for July 20, the 42nd anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon – the Apollo 11mission in July 1969.
This final flight of the space shuttle program brings to a close use of this NASA workhorse for the past 30 years.
The agency is now looking to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.
By Leonard David