NASA

One of the most important questions on launch day is, "What's the weather like?" A team of specialized professionals and precise equipment is who the launch team turns to for the answer.

The crew of STS-135 take their seats inside Atlantis as the countdown moves ahead toward launch on July 8, 2011.

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off at 11:29 a.m. EST on July 8, 2011, to begin the STS-135 mission, the last of the shuttle program.

The astronauts of STS-135 get dressed for launch and climb into the Astrovan for the ride to the launch pad.

Shuttle Closeout Crew Says Goodbye The Closeout Crew sends its farewell and thanks after helping the final space shuttle crew into their seats before liftoff.

Learn about NASA Ames' contributions to the space shuttle program.

Although STS-135 is the final space shuttle mission, the International Space Station will continue an uninterrupted human presence in space. This music video featuring the space station and its crews is set to the song "World" by recording artists Five for Fighting.

Orbiter Atlantis lifted off from NASAâ s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:29 a.m. EDT, July 8, 2011, to begin the STS-135 mission. This was the final launch in the Space Shuttle Program. Though the launch is finished, work is just beginning for staff at NASAâ s Goddard Space Flight Center more than 800 miles away from the launch pad, just outside Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Md. Goddard employees will work around-the-clock to guarantee the four astronauts aboard Atlantis have constant, uninterrupted lines of communication with Mission Control. The careful dance of satellite relays necessary to keep channels open requires global coordination, but it all comes together in Goddardâ s Network Integration Center. Goddard has fulfilled this communication role in literally all of NASAâ s manned space flights: We all know the words, â One small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind,â but no one on Earth would have heard Neil Armstrong say them on July 21, 1969, if not for Goddard.

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach conducts the launch readiness poll before the countdown resumes.

Main engine cutoff and separation of Atlantis' external tank during its climb into space.

The crew of the final space shuttle mission talks about what's next for NASA, as the agency looks to move past low earth orbit.

Watch the STS-135 astronauts train for the mission at Ames' Vertical Motion Simulator.

Coverage begins of the countdown of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission.

A pair of lightning strikes occurred near launch pad 39-A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 12:31 p.m. and 12:40 p.m. EDT on July 7. The first struck the water tower 515 feet from the pad and the second struck the beach area northeast of the pad. Early data indicate no issues with any systems, including shuttle Atlantis, External Tank, Solid Rocket Boosters, Space Shuttle Main Engines or Ground Support Equipment.

Atlantis crew members and their six station colleagues gathered in the Japanese Kibo Laboratory to take questions from news media. Reporters at four NASA centers, NASA headquarters and in Japan participated.