The human journey to the beginning of space and time will soon turn the page in space history as the end of an era of human space exploration that will be remembered as a time when America and the world first dared to venture beyond the confines of Earth's atmosphere and into the darkness of the unknown comes to an end. The fourth space orbiter built to help take American astronauts into low orbit, Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift-off of Kennedy Space Centre's Launch Pad 39A for the 33rd and final time on Friday, July 8 2011, barring any technical issues that come up before the scheduled final launch of NASA's shuttle program. Technicians are presently off for Independence Day weekend, but will arrive at work on Tuesday, July 5 to start the last countdown for shuttle Atlantis and the American shuttle program around 1 pm (EDT).

Over in NASA's Johnson Space Center, the STS-135 astronauts are running through a launch simulation today in preparation for next week's launch of Atlantis to the International Space Station for the last time. The STS-135 astronauts are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Space Centre Launch Pad 39A at around 2.45 pm on Monday, July 4th. Spectators or interested people can watch the arrival of the STS-135 astronauts on live NASA TV and at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

The last crew for Atlantis and the American shuttle program is scheduled to be Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. This will be the third flight into space for Commander Ferguson, Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim, while Doug Hurley will be travelling into space for the second time. The STS-135 crew is expected to spend 12 days circling the Earth, while they offload the supplies the International Space Station will need to keep operating after the last flight for Atlantis and the American shuttle program. Shuttle Atlantis will also deliver the Robotic Refuelling Mission (RMR) to the International Space Station and pick up a ammonia pump that recently stopped working and take it back to Earth so rocket scientists can take a look and see if they can figure out what went wrong in order to prevent similar failures in future American spacecraft.

Tune into NASA TV on Friday, July 8 to watch shuttle Atlantis lift-off for the last time, and you'll witness a truly historic event in the human journey to the beginning of space and time. The last flight of shuttle Atlantis marks the end of one era of the human journey to the beginning of the universe and the start of the mankind's journey to the planets in our solar system. In the centuries to come mankind will journey beyond the solar system and into the darkness of space and time in search of our own origins and answers to universal questions that have been tumbling in the minds of humans for thousands of years.