Shuttle Atlantis launches on its last mission

14.05.2010
NASA's space shuttle Atlantis at 2:20 p.m. EDT today, heading out on the final mission of its 25-year career.

and its six-man crew launched into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle, on a 12-day mission to bring supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station, entered orbit within nine minutes after liftoff.

NASA had predicted that the shuttle had a 70% chance of clear weather and the spacecraft launched into clear blue skies.

On its 32nd mission, Atlantis will ferry an 11,000-pound Russian-built mini research module to the station, along with new batteries for the facility's solar array, a spare communications dish antenna and scientific experiments.

"Twelve days, three [spacewalks], tons of robotics ... We're putting on spares that make us feel good about the long-term sustainability of the [space station], replacing batteries that have been up there for a while, and docking a Russian-built ISS module," said John Shannon, space shuttle program manager, in a statement. "This flight has a little bit of everything."

The research module is nearly 20 feet long and eight feet wide. It will be attached to the space station and will be used for storage and as extra work space.