NASA Prepares Launch of Final Shuttle Mission

If the weather doesn't co-operate, Atlantis' final flight could be delayed until Saturday or Sunday morning.

The final NASA space shuttle mission is tentatively set for lift off from Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Fla., this morning at 11:06 a.m. EST, but the poor weather means it's likely Atlantis' launch will be scrubbed for today. The four-person crew of Atlantis is set to board the shuttle, but there's only a 30-per-cent chance that it will launch today. If it doesn't, there are windows of opportunity on Saturday and Sunday morning, and again next Saturday. The mission, STS-135, is slated to take supplies up to the International Space Station, and is the last time the iconic shuttle will take to the skies. Since 1982, 135 shuttle missions have blasted off from Earth, two of which – Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 – ended in disaster.