Atlantis Space shuttle blasts off last time

The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off on Friday from the Kennedy Space Center to deliver a Russian module and spare parts to the International Space Station ISS NASA is retiring the shuttle fleet, which began flying in 1981

Atlantis load russian module "Rassvet"

The spaceship carries a small laboratory and docking compartment that will be attached to the Russian side of the space station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations nearing completion after more than a decade of construction.

After Atlantis returns, NASA plans just two more trips to the space station with its shuttles.

President Obama,

He supports development of commercial space taxis to take over the job of ferrying astronauts to and from the space station, and supports keeping the station flying beyond its scheduled retirement in 2016. Russia is counting on that. "We're going to keep the station (ISS) active to 2020," Krasnov said.

source: reuters.com | video