{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Atlantis lifts off on the final flight of the 30-year programme' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bff0d8eafeecae146f7c' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bff0d8eafeecae146f7c' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nAtlantis lifts off on the final flight of the 30-year programme\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003e1. Wide of shuttle Atlantis on launch pad2. Wide of spectators 3. Various of shuttle preparing to launch4. Various of shuttle lifting off5. Various of shuttle heading out into spaceAtlantis and four astronauts rocketed into orbit on...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003e1. Wide of shuttle Atlantis on launch pad\u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide of spectators \u003cbr/\u003e3. Various of shuttle preparing to launch\u003cbr/\u003e4. Various of shuttle lifting off\u003cbr/\u003e5. Various of shuttle heading out into space\u003cbr/\u003eAtlantis and four astronauts rocketed into orbit on Friday on NASA's last space shuttle voyage, dodging bad weather and delighting hundreds of thousands of spectators on hand to witness the end of an era.\u003cbr/\u003eIt will be at least three years - possibly five or more - before astronauts launch again from US soil, and so this final journey of the shuttle era packed in crowds and roused emotions on a scale not seen since the Apollo moon shots.\u003cbr/\u003eAfter days of gloomy forecasts full of rain and heavy cloud cover, the spacecraft lifted off at 1129 local time (1529 GMT) - just two-and-a-half minutes late - thundering away on the 135th shuttle mission 30 years and three months after the very first flight. \u003cbr/\u003eThe four experienced space fliers rode Atlantis from the same pad used more than a generation ago by the Apollo astronauts.\u003cbr/\u003eThe shuttle was visible for 42 seconds before disappearing into the\u003cbr/\u003eclouds.\u003cbr/\u003eThe crew will deliver a year's worth of critical supplies to the International Space Station and return with as much trash as possible.\u003cbr/\u003eAtlantis is scheduled to come home on 20 June after 12 days in orbit.\u003cbr/\u003eIt wasn't clear until the final moments of the countdown that the launch would come off. \u003cbr/\u003eThat was fitting in a way, since Florida's famously stormy weather delayed numerous shuttle missions almost from the start of the programme and was a major reason spaceflight never became routine, as NASA had hoped for.\u003cbr/\u003eHundreds of thousands of spectators jammed Cape Canaveral and surrounding towns for the emotional farewell. \u003cbr/\u003eKennedy Space Center itself was packed with shuttle workers, astronauts and 45,000 invited guests, the maximum allowed.\u003cbr/\u003eNASA's original shuttle pilot, Robert Crippen, now 73, was among the VIPs.\u003cbr/\u003eHe flew Columbia, along with Apollo 16 moon walker John Young, on the inaugural test flight in 1981.\u003cbr/\u003eOther notables on the guest list: a dozen members of Congress, Cabinet members, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, four Kennedy family members, singers Jimmy Buffett and Gloria Estefan and two former National Aeronautics and Space Administration chiefs.\u003cbr/\u003eThe space shuttle was conceived even as the moon landings were under way, deemed essential for building a permanent space station. \u003cbr/\u003eNASA brashly promised 50 flights a year - in other words, routine trips into space - and affordable service.\u003cbr/\u003eBut the programme suffered two tragic accidents that killed 14 astronauts and destroyed two shuttles - Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. \u003cbr/\u003eNASA never managed more than nine flights in a single year and the total bill was\u003cbr/\u003e196 (b) billion US dollars or 1.45 (b) billion a flight.\u003cbr/\u003eYet there have been some indisputable payoffs: The International Space\u003cbr/\u003eStation would not exist if it were not for the shuttles and the Hubble Space\u003cbr/\u003eTelescope, thanks to repeated tune ups by astronauts, would be a blurry eye in\u003cbr/\u003ethe sky instead of the world's finest cosmic photographer.\u003cbr/\u003eThe station is essentially completed, and thus the shuttle's original purpose accomplished. \u003cbr/\u003eNASA says it is sacrificing the shuttles because there is not enough money to keep the expensive fleet going if the space agency is to aim for asteroids and Mars.\u003cbr/\u003eThousands of shuttle workers will be laid off within days of Atlantis' return, on top of the thousands who already have lost their jobs and the three remaining shuttles will become museum pieces.\u003cbr/\u003eThis day of reckoning has been coming since 2004, a year after the Columbia tragedy, when President George W. Bush announced the retirement of the shuttle and put NASA on a course back to the moon. \u003cbr/\u003ePresident Barack Obama cancelled the back-to-the-moon programme in favour of trips to an asteroid and Mars.\u003cbr/\u003eBut NASA has yet to work out the details of how it intends to get there, and has not even settled on a spacecraft design.\u003cbr/\u003eAfter Atlantis' lights-out, 33rd flight, private rocket companies will take over the job of hauling supplies and astronauts to the space station.\u003cbr/\u003eThe first supply run is targeted for later this year, while the first trip with astronauts is projected to be years away.\u003cbr/\u003eUntil those flights are up and running, American astronauts will be hitching rides to and from the space station via Russian Soyuz capsules, at more than 50 (m) million US dollars per trip.\u003cbr/\u003eRussia will supply the rescue vessels for Ferguson and his crew if Atlantis ends up severely damaged in flight. \u003cbr/\u003eBut the Russian spaceships can carry only three people, including two crew  members, and any rescue would require a series of back-and-forth trips. \u003cbr/\u003eThat is why only four astronauts are flying Atlantis, the smallest crew in decades.\u003cbr/\u003eThis last journey by Atlantis may be stretched to 13 days if enough power can be conserved. \u003cbr/\u003eWeather permitting, Atlantis will return to Kennedy, where it will be put on public display. \u003cbr/\u003eDiscovery and Endeavour already are retired and being prepped for museums across the country.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv 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