On Friday, NASA's space shuttle Atlantis lifted off for its final flight carrying a crew of four members.

The four STS-135 astronauts include Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.

The launch on July 8, 2011 was viewed by around one million spectators, almost close to the number that watched the launch of the Apollo 11 lunar-landing mission in 1969.

Check out the amazing pictures of the Atlantis space shuttle launch below:

Latest pictures of Atlantis space shuttle launch.
The space shuttle Atlantis, STS-135 lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 8, 2011. The 12-day mission to the International Space Station is the last mission in the Space Shuttle program. Reuters
Latest pictures of Atlantis space shuttle launch.
The space shuttle Atlantis, STS-135 lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 8, 2011. The 12-day mission to the International Space Station is the last mission in the Space Shuttle program. Reuters
Latest pictures of Atlantis space shuttle launch.
Spectators applaud as they watch from a pier in Titusville, Florida, the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis as it blasts off from Pad 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida July 8, 2011. The 12-day mission to the International Space station is the last planned for the Space Shuttle Program. Reuters
Latest pictures of Atlantis space shuttle launch.
Vapor forms after the space shuttle Atlantis STS-135 lifted off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 8, 2011. The 12-day mission to the International Space Station is the last mission in the Space Shuttle program. Reuters
Latest pictures of Atlantis space shuttle launch.
The space shuttle Atlantis STS-135 lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 8, 2011. The 12-day mission to the International Space Station is the last mission in the Space Shuttle program. Reuters
Latest pictures of Atlantis space shuttle launch.
The space shuttle Atlantis STS-135 lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 8, 2011. The 12-day mission to the International Space Station is the last mission in the Space Shuttle program. Reuters
Latest pictures of Atlantis space shuttle launch.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is seen through the window of a Shuttle Training Aircraft as it launches from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center July 8, 2011. Atlantis rocketed off its seaside launch pad on Friday, rising atop a tower of smoke and flames as it left Earth on the shuttle program's final flight. Reuters
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