Photo gallery: The last Space Shuttle launch
The shuttle Atlantis cleared the tower at the Kennedy Space Center with a crew of four on Friday morning, enroute to the International Space Station. It is the 135th and final Space Shuttle launch.
Space Shuttle
Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, July 8, 2011. The STS135 mission, the final shuttle flight, will bring supplies to the international space station.
Sandy Magnus, Rex Walheim, Doug Hurley, Chris Ferguson
The space shuttle Atlantis astronauts left to right, mission specialists Rex Walheim, Sandy Magnus, pilot Doug Hurley and commander Chris Ferguson, leave the operations and check-out building on the way to the pad at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, July 8, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis is the 135th and final space shuttle launch for NASA.
Space Shuttle
Thousands gather in the surf and on the beach in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Friday, July 8, 2011 to watch the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on STS-135. The space shuttle Atlantis is the final shuttle mission before the fleet is retired.
Space Shuttle
Spectators watch the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis in Titusville, Fla., Friday, July 8, 2011. Four astronauts are taking space shuttle Atlantis for one last ride, the very last one of the 30-year space shuttle era.
Space Shuttle
The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center Friday, July 8, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis is the 135th and final space shuttle launch for NASA.
Space Shuttle
Ron Stillman, left, and Tara Reece of Cocoa Beach, Fla., watch from their sufboards as the space shuttle Atlantis lifts off on STS-135 in Cocoa Beach, Fla., on Friday, July 8, 2011. The space shuttle Atlantis is the final shuttle mission before the fleet is retired.
Space Shuttle
Spectators watch the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis in Titusville, Fla., Friday, July 8, 2011. Four astronauts are taking space shuttle Atlantis for one last ride, the very last one of the 30-year space shuttle era.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Spectators watch and take photographs as space shuttle Atlantis lifts off Friday, July 8, 2011, in Titusville, Fla. Four astronauts are taking space shuttle Atlantis for one last ride, the very last one of the 30-year space shuttle era.
STS135 Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space shuttle Atlantis blasts off Friday, July 8, 2011, on a final flight of a 30-year program history. A crew of four is on a mission to re-supply the international space station.
Atlantis
Spectators watch as space shuttle Atlantis lifts off Friday, July 8, 2011, in Titusville, Fla. Four astronauts are taking space shuttle Atlantis for one last ride, the very last one of the 30-year space shuttle era.
Space Shuttle
Jeff Eaton of Cocoa Beach, Fla., sells T-shirts commemorating the final space shuttle launch along Route A1A in Cocoa Beach on Friday, July 8, 2011. The space shuttle Atlantis, scheduled to launch Friday morning, will be the final shuttle mission before the fleet is retired.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With a cry from its commander to "light this fire one more time," the last shuttle thundered into orbit Friday on a car…