Swansong of Atlantis

AS YOU read, Space Shuttle Atlantis stands on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre, its black nose pointed towards the heavens, one last mission beckoning.

Its launch, scheduled for 11.26AM EDT next Friday, kicks off the 135th and final flight of NASA’s space shuttle programme.

“We are just trying to savour the moment,” said STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson, arriving for pre-flight checks at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. “As our children and our children’s children ask us, we want to be able to say: ‘We remember when there was a space shuttle.’”