Space Shuttle Atlantis has launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the final shuttle launch for NASA.
STS-135 marks the final flight for the shuttle program, 30 years after Columbia touched the sky during STS-1.
Meteorological reports for the launch looked doubtful at first, but a gap in the bad weather at just the right time allowed everything to proceed as planned. Atlantis successfully reached its preliminary orbit in what a NASA official called a flawless launch.
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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
Spectators gather to watch the Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-135 take off near the Visitors Center at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida July 8, 2011.
Reuters
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
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
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
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
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