Today, at 11:29 ET, Atlantis lifted off, thereby marking the historic final launch of the space shuttle program.

After this mission it will be at least three years before US. Astronauts voyage into space aboard a U.S.-built spaceship.

Assuming the mission follows the current schedule, Atlantis will land back on Earth on July 20, which is the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo moon landing (are NASA schedulers fans of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?).

 

Photo credit: NASA