The highly-anticipated flight of Atlantis is the 135th and last for the U.S. space shuttle program, leaving Russia's space capsules as the sole option for astronauts heading to and from the International Space Station.
"It is a sad time," NASA astronaut Terry Virts said, reflecting on what he called the "passion" of many of his coworkers. "The sad part about it is that we won't have an American ability to launch astronauts anymore."
At Kennedy Space Center, staff were in a contemplative mood. Thousands are set to lose their jobs after the mission as NASA enters a period of reduced activity.
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