Atlantis Blasts off on Final Shuttle Mission

With a 70% chance of a weather violation the Space Shuttle Atlantis beat the odds and thrilled close to a million gathered people who waited hours to see the final launch of a Space Shuttle. (Video of launch available)


The launch was very much in jeopardy up until the final hour before launch. It seemed the weather might not clear in time forcing a 48 hours scrub. But in the last hour the weather started to clear. But that wasn’t the only excitement. The countdown was briefly stopped at the T-Minus 0:31 second mark as an there was some indication that the gaseous oxygen vent arm wasn’t fully retracted. However subsequent checks showed it was fine and the launch proceeded to cheers from the large gathered crowds around the countdown clock.
Then there was nothing stopping the countdown and for the final time ever a space shuttle blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on its final mission.

About Marc Boucher

Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor & publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media Inc. and CEO and co-founder of SpaceRef Interactive LLC. Boucher has 20+ years working in various roles in the space industry and a total of 30 years as a technology entrepreneur including creating Maple Square, Canada's first internet directory and search engine.

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