NASA launches space shuttle Atlantis

CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA on Friday cleared Atlantis to launch just minutes before it was due to blast off on the last ever mission of the 30-year-old American space shuttle program.

The NASA control center determined that there were no technical issues and the weather was a "go" at Cape Canaveral, Florida, despite earlier gloomy forecasts.

Atlantis was to blast off into space for its final journey to the International Space Station with its crew of four astronauts already aboard.

Atlantis's 12-day mission to the International Space Station marks the end of an era in human spaceflight, after which the United States will rely on Russia to send astronauts to space until a replacement US capsule can be built.

"The beginning of the end of the space shuttle era is this morning," said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.

At least 750,000 people have descended on this area of Florida, with tourists eager to grab a glimpse of the final launch. However nostalgia has mingled with bitterness among the thousands of NASA employees set to lose their jobs.

"It is a sad time," said NASA astronaut Terry Virts, 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."

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011