The space shuttle Atlantis has blasted off from Cape Canaveral in the US for the final flight of the 30-year-old shuttle program.Hundreds of thousands of spectators gathered around the launch site to watch the shuttle ascend towards the International Space Station.
The weather didn’t disturb the launch as Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus and Mission Specialist Rex Walheim blasted off on a humid, gloomy day.
It was the last launch for the 30-year-old program. Each launch cost an average of $1.6 billion, much more than the $7 million NASA originally predicted.
Atlantis will undergo a 12-day mission to the International Space Station, delivering supplies, spare parts and a logistics module. This will be the shuttles 33rd and final flight.
The space shuttle is also carrying two iPhone 4’s to be used as “research tools” and 10,400 kilograms of clothing, food and equipment, enough to keep the International Space Station running for a year.
135 shuttle missions have been flown. Shuttles and flight-test models that never flew in space will be displayed at museums in Los Angeles, Cape Canaveral, New York and outside Washington.
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