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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (9) Slideshow Video Technology Twitter security lags some other sites: experts Factbox: News that broke on Twitter Internet providers to act against online pirates Google to cooperate in antitrust review: Schmidt Google plays nice on social networking Greenlight Capital sells Yahoo stake: source Baidu restructures business lines Apple's app downloads race ahead Ebay buys Zong as mobile payments gain traction Video: Skyping on Facebook Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read New "win a baby" game draws fire 07 Jul 2011 China warns U.S. officials not to meet Dalai Lama 07 Jul 2011 Suspect in 7 murders killed ex-girlfriends, his own daughter | 12:40pm EDT Internet providers to act against online pirates 07 Jul 2011 Jobs growth stalls, setting back recovery hopes | 3:44pm EDT Discussed 210 Minnesota government shutdown begins after talks fail 133 Obama: ending tax breaks required to cut deficit 100 Jury resumes deliberations in Casey Anthony murder trial Watched Mobile harbor delivers the goods for container ships at sea Wed, Jul 6 2011 A Tokyo-Paris flight in under three hours on the horizon Fri, Jun 24 2011 Skyping on Facebook Wed, Jul 6 2011 Space shuttle leaves Earth on final flight Tweet Share this Email Print Factbox Space shuttle Atlantis' final mission 1:05pm EDT Analysis & Opinion Washington Extra – Tweet tweet Business travellers canâ€™t get no airline satisfaction Related Topics U.S. » Science » Technology » Related Video Atlantis blasts off for final shuttle launch 3:58pm EDT Astronauts board for last launch -- weather permitting "Space City, USA" feels post-shuttle pain After Atlantis, what's NASA's next frontier? 1 / 19 The space shuttle Atlantis, STS-135 lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 8, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Joe Skipper By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Fri Jul 8, 2011 4:31pm EDT CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis rocketed off its seaside launch pad on Friday, rising atop a tower of smoke and flames as it left Earth on the final flight of the U.S. space shuttle program. After a 30-year history that has cost nearly $200 billion and claimed the lives of 14 astronauts, the shuttles are being retired to make way for a new generation of spacecraft that President Barack Obama says will put U.S. astronauts on an asteroid and then on to Mars. "Today's launch may mark the final flight of the space shuttle but it propels us into the next era of our never-ending adventure to push the very frontiers of exploration and discovery in space," Obama said in a statement from the White House. About 1 million sightseers witnessed the liftoff. They had lined causeways and beaches around the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida, angling for a last glimpse of the pioneering ship that has defined the U.S. space program for the past three decades as it soared through the skies. "Good luck to you and your crew on this final flight of this true American icon," shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach radioed to the crew minutes before takeoff. Cloudy skies had threatened to delay Atlantis' launch on a planned 12-day mission to the International Space Station but conditions cleared in time for the blastoff. However, 31 seconds before the scheduled 11:26 a.m./1526 GMT launch, computers detected a problem with the retraction of equipment used to vent gases from the fuel tank and stopped the countdown. Engineers verified the equipment's position and the shuttle lifted off three minutes later. "The shuttle is always going to be a reflection of what a great nation can do when it dares to be bold and commits to follow through," said Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson. The shuttle's cargo of tonnes of food and equipment is intended to bridge the gap until newly hired commercial freighters are ready to begin deliveries to the station. Atlantis and its four-member veteran crew are scheduled to arrive at the station, a recently completed orbital research outpost, on Sunday. HIGH COSTS NASA is ending the shuttle program primarily due to high operating costs. Its legacy includes launching and servicing the Hubble Space Telescope and dispatching dozens of planetary probes and Earth-orbiting satellites but also a troubled safety record. In 1986, seven astronauts died aboard shuttle Challenger when a rocket booster seal failed shortly after launch. Seven more died aboard Columbia, destroyed due to heat shield failure in 2003 as it returned to Earth. The shuttle fleet's crowning achievement was building the recently completed space station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations that orbits 230 miles above Earth. The focus of the U.S. human spaceflight program for the next decade shifts to the space station itself, a complex the size of a five-bedroom house that has the potential for breakthrough research in medicine and technology. NASA will rely on Russia to fly its astronauts to the station, at a cost of more than $50 million a seat, until commercial firms are ready to take over crew ferry flights. Among the companies interested in the work is Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, which already has a NASA contract to fly cargo to the station. The company, owned by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, successfully tested its Dragon capsule in orbit last December and hopes to make it all the way to the station during a second test flight later this year. The other freighter, being developed by Orbital Sciences Corp, has yet to debut. NASA also is backing space taxi development work by Boeing Sierra Nevada Corp and Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The U.S. space agency also plans to use the $4 billion or so it has been spending each year to maintain and operate its three space shuttles to develop new spacecraft that can travel beyond the station's near-Earth orbit, where the shuttles cannot go. Atlantis is scheduled to spend about a week at the space station, transferring more than 5 tonnes of food, clothing, science experiments and other gear to the station and packing up old equipment to be returned to Earth. Upon Atlantis' return, about 3,200 space shuttle contractor employees will be laid off. Most work at the spaceport in Florida. "We're going to be going through a tough time. Change is hard," said Kennedy Space Center director Bob Cabana. (Editing by Tom Brown and Bill Trott) U.S. Science Technology Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (9) Patriot_70 wrote: Thank you Mister Obama. You’ve managed to single handedly destroy 50 years worth of innovation, a city, and an entire industry. You’ve put hundreds out or work, put the knife int he back of the American people, and ended our presence in space. You’ve manged to prevent us from reaching Mars with a permanent settlement, and denied the future generations of America the dream of going into space. You’ve damaged the USA, and put it further behind China and Russia since, well, ever. Congratulations. You’ve proven yourself, in my eyes, to be a traitor to us, to the United States, and to future generations. Hope you enjoy your continuous vacation and endless golf while you spend us into more debt than could ever be repaid. I will celebrate the day you are run out of office and a real MAN is put in. Jul 07, 2011 11:19pm EDT -- Report as abuse PayloadStuff wrote: Um, politicians have been squeezing NASA for years. Don’t forget it was Nixon who cancelled the Apollo program early, and also cancelled work on what would have been an earlier space station. And George W. Bush talked about going to the moon and Mars, but never put the money in his budgets to do it. It was also under W’s watch that the first nails were put in the coffin of the shuttle with cuts in long-lead planning and preparation for further Shuttle flights. So don’t single out Obama for decisions that have been trending the wrong direction for years. Jul 07, 2011 11:53pm EDT -- Report as abuse ryan.c wrote: Thank you Mister Obama, for finally looking towards the future. Years of spending billions on our aging space taxis can now go into what man has always looked to the sky for. Exploration. NASA can return to what got us to the moon, not shuttles but rockets! To continue to waste 4 billion on these space taxis was the worst decision to make after the Columbia disaster. By letting private companies focus on low orbit shuttles and flights, NASA can finally get back on track to putting a man on the moon once more, and eventually Mars! With corporations leading the way to low orbit exploration we can advance further then other countries under communist control. Our country’s greatest technologies and advancements weren’t by the government but by Ford, General Electric, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and soon Virgin Galactic! Mr. Obama, you have done so much for our country and the world views us in a better light for it. Thank you. Once again we can proudly claim to be Americans and one day even be the first to Mars. Jul 07, 2011 11:55pm EDT -- Report as abuse See All Comments » Add Your Comment Social Stream (What's this?) © Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Reader Feedback Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Analyst Research Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service Reuters on Facebook Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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