Space Shuttle Atlantis for Last Launch -

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Atlantis and a skeleton crew of four astronauts will fly a 12-day mission to the International Space Station to make one final delivery before the shuttle program shuts down for good this year. The cargo on Atlantis — spare parts, equipment and other supplies — is expected to help the space station continue flying despite the lack of regular big deliveries from visiting shuttles.

If NASA is unable to launch Atlantis Friday, the space agency does have two other chances (on Saturday and Sunday) before it would have to stand down to avoid a space traffic conflict with another rocket set to launch an Air Force navigation satellite on July 14 from the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The latest forecast predicts a 60 percent chance of foul weather on Saturday, but conditions improve on Sunday, which is expected to pose only a 40 percent risk of bad weather, officials said.

The upcoming mission will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis and NASA's 135th shuttle mission since the orbiters began launching into orbit in April 1981. NASA is retiring the iconic shuttle program to make way for a new one aimed at sending astronauts on deep space exploration trips to asteroids and Mars.

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