SPACE shuttle Atlantis thundered off its seaside launch pad, rising atop a tower of smoke and flames as it left Earth on the final flight of the US space shuttle programme yesterday.

The shuttle Atlantis is preparing for its final mission into space this evening.

DISCOVERY and seven astronauts rocketed into orbit yesterday on one of Nasa’s final stockpiling missions to the International Space Station, its takeoff flames bringing an early dawn to the coast with this last scheduled shuttle launch in darkness.

A CALIFORNIAN aerospace company plans to enter the space tourism industry with a two-seat rocket ship capable of suborbital flights to altitudes more than 37 miles above the Earth.

AN IRISH family which runs one of the country’s biggest optician firms watched in awe yesterday as the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a loved one on board.

SPACE shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth yesterday, ending a nearly two-week orbital drama that centred on a deep gouge in the shuttle’s belly and an early homecoming prompted by a hurricane.

NASA managers picked Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the space shuttle Discovery to touch down tonight after wrestling with weather conditions at three landing sites.

NASA scrubbed space shuttle Discovery’s first landing plan tonight because of rain at Kennedy Space Center and was considering ordering a New Mexico landing - something it has done only once before.

In a routine familiar to travellers on Earth, shuttle astronauts were spending this morning packing their things, indulging in their surroundings for one last day and making sure their vehicle is ready for the ride home.

Space shuttle Discovery faces a windy and rainy forecast that could alter its trip back to Earth with the first crew of the international space station on board.