The space shuttle Atlantis is prepped and ready to launch into space one last time, the first of three final flights for each of NASA’s soon-to-be-retired shuttles. She will carry with her six veteran astronauts, a Russian module bound for the International Space Station and a heap of unanswered questions about the future of the manned space program.

Christian Science Monitor:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has cleared the space shuttle Atlantis for its final planned launch on Friday afternoon as the U.S. space agency prepares to retire its aging three-shuttle fleet later this year.

Atlantis and a crew of six astronauts are poised to launch toward the International Space Station in what will be the 25-year-old shuttle’s 32nd and last planned spaceflight. Liftoff is set for Friday at 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center here.

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