Ah, I don't get NASA TV.
A beautiful launch.
Only two more Shuttle launches left (no more for this shuttle) on the schedule as NASA is now funded, and though I heard they could keep going if they had funding, it's very unlikely such funding will appear. Obama dumped Dubya's plan to return to the Moon and go to Mars, and as I understand the current situation, no one knows what year NASA will again send humans into space after the Shuttle flights end.
It's an 8-hour drive (maybe it would be faster to fly - maybe), and I've never seen ANY launch there. I'm afraid of going down there and the launch being delayed for a month, but the last few launches have been on time.
The US space shuttle Atlantis has launched from Florida on what is expected to be its final outing.
The orbiter soared into blue skies above the Kennedy Space Center, leaving the pad at 1420 local time (1820 GMT).
Its 12-day mission will take it to the International Space Station (ISS) where it will deliver a Russian module.
Only two further flights remain after this one, by Discovery and Endeavour. Nasa is trying to get these missions concluded before the end of the year.
The orbiter fleet will then be retired to museums.
This is slightly OT, and this video has been mentioned a lot lately, but if you enjoy launches, the Apollo 11 launch at 500 frames per second might interest you.
"This amazing video by Spacecraft Films shows the July 16, 1969 launch of the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first humans on the moon. The camera was rolling at a whopping 500 frames per second, allowing the first 30 seconds of the launch to be slowed down into this 8-minute narrated video of pure awesomeness."