Knowing her fate, Atlantis sent out ships to all corners of the Earth.
On board were the Twelve:
The poet, the physician, the farmer, the scientist, the magician,
And the other so-called Gods of our legends,
Though Gods they were.
And as the elders of our time choose to remain blind,
Let us rejoice and let us sing and dance and ring in the new . . .
Hail Atlantis!
Donovan

Kennedy Space Center, Florida (CNN) -- The Space Shuttle Atlantis is on schedule for a Friday afternoon liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said.

"We've had a very clean countdown so far and we're currently on schedule, and we're not working on any issues," said Jeremy Graeber, NASA test director.

The forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time, according to Todd McNamara, NASA's weather officer. He said the biggest concern is low cloud cover.

The crew of six astronauts will deliver an integrated cargo carrier and a Russian-built mini research module to the International Space Station.

Liftoff for the 12-day mission to the International Space Station is set for 2:20 p.m. There are three remaining shuttle missions -- including Friday's scheduled launch -- before the program ends.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/14/space.shuttle/index.html?hpt=T2

This is the second last one folks, say good bye to great program.

I grew up with the Shuttle Program and remember the first one exploding way back when...

Seems like such a shame!! I remember the first man walking on the Moon! I turned 16 that week! Those were the days.

Atlantis returns from final space mission


(CNN) -- Space shuttle Atlantis landed at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday morning, concluding the orbiter's 25-year career.

The shuttle, fresh off a trip to the international space station, landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:48 a.m. ET, weather permitting. Weather near the landing site was forecast as favorable with a slight chance of showers.

Atlantis, which lifted off Friday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, made its maiden voyage in 1985.

During its career, Atlantis carried into orbit the Magellan spacecraft, which went on to map 98 percent of the planet Venus. It also sent the Galileo spacecraft on its way to collect data about Jupiter and its moons for eight years.

NASA has plans for two other missions before the space shuttle program ends -- one for Discovery in September and the other for Endeavour in November.

President Obama has called for a new strategy that ends current programs while funding new initiatives intended to propel humankind farther into the solar system.

In an April speech, Obama outlined his proposal to pump an additional $6 billion into NASA's budget over the next five years while halting a project to resume lunar missions.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/26/atlantis.landing/index.html?hpt=T2