spacetoday.net: Atlantis launches on potentially final mission

Posted: Fri, May 14, 2010, 6:14 PM ET (2214 GMT)
STS-132: launch (J. Foust)

The space shuttle Atlantis launched on schedule Friday afternoon on a mission to the International Space Station that could be the final flight for the orbiter. Atlantis lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 2:20 pm EDT (1820 GMT) after a countdown with only a handful of technical issues and with excellent weather. Atlantis is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Sunday morning. Atlantis is carrying a Russian module, Mini-Research Module-1 or Rassvet, that will be attached to the station during the mission, with several spacewalks also planned. The launch was the last on the shuttle manifest for Atlantis, with only two more shuttle launches remaining overall. There is a possibility that Atlantis could be flown next year for an additional mission to deliver cargo to the station.