Atlantis blasts off for the last time

Despite threatening weather and a slight technical hitch, the last of the 135 U.S. space shuttle missions took off from the Kennedy Space Centre at 11:29 a.m. yesterday, just 2½ minutes late.

Just before the take off, launch director Mike Leinbach told Commander Chris Ferguson, "On behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you and your crew on the final flight of a true American icon.

"For the final time ... good luck, Godspeed, and have a little fun up there."

Launch watched by 75000 cheering spectators
As the 122ft-long Atlantis lifted off on its final voyage, an estimated 75,000 spectators gathered in Cape Canaveral and surrounding towns to witness the historic moment cheered gleefully.

Kennedy Space Center was occupied by shuttle workers, astronauts and 45,000 invited guests.

Emotions ranging from nostalgia, sorrow and pride were evident among the astronauts as they watched the spacecraft rocket into the skies for a final time.

Kathryn Sullivan, 59, the first woman to walk in space when she flew aboard Atlantis for STS-45 in 1992 recalled, "I'm thinking of the incredible view of Earth. I struggle to explain it to someone who hasn't seen it. You see its grand scale, but also its exquisite fragility."

Karol Bobko, 73, commander of the inaugural Atlantis mission in 1985, disclosed, "It brings tears to my eyes. It's an amazing thing. It's something from outside. But it's really quite something from the inside."

Guy Bluford, 68, the first African-American in space, said, "On days like this I have the tragedies in the back of my mind. I lost lots of good friends on Challenger."

“The space shuttle spreads its wings one final time for the start of a sentimental journey into history. We turn the page on a remarkable period in America’s history in space, while beginning the next chapter in our nation’s extraordinary story of exploration.”-- NASA administrator Charles Bolden

NASA shuttle program comes to an end
The mission, designated STS-135, is the 135th and the last planned flight of the 30-year space shuttle program.

On its return, Atlantis like other surviving shuttles Endeavour and Discovery will retire to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex for public display, paving the way for the next generation U.S. spacecrafts that are aimed at sending astronauts on missions to an asteroid by 2025 and then Mars.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden stated, "The space shuttle spreads its wings one final time for the start of a sentimental journey into history. We turn the page on a remarkable period in America’s history in space, while beginning the next chapter in our nation’s extraordinary story of exploration."

A little about Atlantis mission
Atlantis and its crew of just four veteran astronauts including Commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley along with specialists Rex Walheim, and Sandy Magnus will be on a 12-day mission.

They are expected to dock with the International Space Station (ISS), where six astronauts are living, tomorrow morning.

Atlantis is scheduled to return to Earth on July 20, the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that first landed men on the moon.

During the flight to the ISS, the Atlantis will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module filled with supplies and spare parts.

The astronauts are slated to carry out maintenance work to prevent any sort of failure in the ISS after the NASA retires the space shuttle program.

Also, they will be returning an ammonia pump that had failed on the space station in 2010.

However, no spacewalks are planned.