NASA

By ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES And ROBERT LEE HOTZ

Associated Press

The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.—The Space shuttle Atlantis arced gracefully into the sky Friday on the final journey of a storied NASA program that, in triumph and tragedy, dominated space travel for a generation.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis launched into space from Cape Canaveral on Friday. It marks the final launch in the program's 30-year history. Former Shuttle commander Ken Bowersox joins the panel to discuss the launch and the program's rich history.

Behind, it left regrets, recriminations, and a space agency facing waning congressional support for future U.S. human spaceflight.

Settling safely into orbit, its crew of four astronauts prepared to dock with the International Space Station and, during a 12-day mission, unload spare parts, air and food for the orbital multinational laboratory. But space analysts and National Aeronautics and Space Administration historians were already writing the epitaph for the $209.1 billion shuttle program.

"It was a magnificent failure," said Duke University space historian Alex Roland. "It was the most technologically sophisticated launch vehicle ever, but it never made human spaceflight safe, reliable and economical."