Photo credit: NASA TV / Space shuttle Atlantis stands ready for liftoff at 11:26 a.m. ET on Launch Pad 39A.NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- If the weather cooperates, thousands will watch this morning's historic end to the space shuttle program with the liftoff of Atlantis from the beach here and along the beaches of Brevard County with tens of millions more watching on TV and the Internet.
Atlantis is set to liftoff at 11:26 a.m. ET on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station.
Atlantis will carry a crew of four and the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module containing supplies and spare parts for the space station.
The astronauts for space shuttle mission STS-135 are Cmdr. Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.