Clouds of smoke and steam fill Launch Pad 39A as space shuttle Endeavour soars into the clouds above atop columns of fire.

Clouds of smoke and steam fill Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as space shuttle Endeavour soars into the clouds above atop twin columns of fire.

Endeavour began its final flight, the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station, at 8:56 a.m. EDT on May 16. Endeavour and its six-member crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), Express Logistics Carrier-3, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for the Dextre robotic helper to the space station. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts134/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Tom Farrar