The Space Shuttle Atlantis will blast off on Friday, ending a 30-year program of propeling astronauts into the great beyond. It is a time of great uncertainty for NASA, which will reduce the number of astronauts it employs as it pays Russia up to $56 million a seat to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station. But rather than look forward to a tenuous future, now is a good time to look back at some of the glorious moments that have emerged out of three decades of space exploration.

Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-135 crew (left to right) Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus and Mission Specialist Rex Walheim wave American flags after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida July 4, 2011. REUTERS
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Fish-eye view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis in orbit as seen from the Russian Mir space station during the STS-71 mission on June 29, 1995. REUTERS
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Space Shuttle Enterprise made its first appearance mated to supportive propellant containers/boosters cluster, as it was rolled from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center en route to the launch pad, some 3.5 miles away, in this NASA handout photo dated May 1, 1979. REUTERS
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The Space Shuttle Challenger moves through the fog on its way down the crawler way en route to Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in this NASA handout photo dated November 30, 1982. REUTERS
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Mission Specialist Bruce McCandless II, is seen further away from the confines and safety of the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-41B) than any previous astronaut has ever been from an orbiter in this NASA handout photo dated February 12, 1984 REUTERS
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Backdropped against the blue and white Earth 130 nautical miles below, astronaut Mark Lee tests the new Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) system aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-64) in this NASA handout photo dated September 16, 1994. REUTERS
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on August 2 1991. REUTERS
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