For the last time, the engines of a space shuttle roared, the ground rumbled, and the shuttle Atlantis rose off the launching pad and quickly disappeared into the gray, overcast sky.
By dawn on Friday, cars and campers lined the sides of roadways with the prime views as hundreds of thousands of people came to watch the 135th and last flight in the space shuttle program.
The program, which began in 1981, will come to an end when the Atlantis' wheels roll to a stop on the runway in two weeks.
Atlantis is carrying 8,000 pounds of supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station.
Rains stay away
With storms rumbling around the area, forecasts put just a 30 per cent chance of favourable weather for the launching of the Atlantis.
But the rain stayed far enough away, and the countdown, which encountered no significant setbacks, continued.
At 11.29 a.m. local time, the engines of Atlantis ignited to propel it to orbit with its crew of four: Captain Christopher J. Ferguson of the Navy; the pilot, Colonel Douglas G. Hurley of the Marines; Sandra H. Magnus; and Rex J. Walheim, a retired Air Force colonel.
According to NASA, the luminaries who came included Joe Gibbs, the former Washington Redskins football coach; Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer; and singer Jimmy Buffett.
So did 14 members of Congress; John Holdren, the President's science adviser; Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney-General; Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and former NASA administrators, Daniel Goldin and Michael Griffin.
Old hand
And Robert L. Crippen, a retired Navy captain who served as pilot on the first shuttle flight, came to watch the last one.
The last shuttle flight also contained a piece of the first flight.
Refurbished
The shuttle's solid rocket boosters are recovered and refurbished, and the top segment of the left booster that helped lift Atlantis off the ground on Friday first flew on the first flight, on April 12, 1981. — New York Times News Service
