Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-132

STS132-S-035 (14 May 2010) --- Space shuttle Atlantis and its six-member STS-132 crew head toward Earth orbit and rendezvous with the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 2:20 p.m. (EDT) on May 14, 2010, from launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Onboard are NASA astronauts Ken Ham, commander; Tony Antonelli, pilot; Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers, all mission specialists. The crew will deliver the Russian-built Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM-1) to the International Space Station. Named Rassvet, Russian for "dawn," the module is the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia and will be permanently attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya Functional Cargo Block (FGB). Rassvet will be used for cargo storage and will provide an additional docking port to the station. Also aboard Atlantis is an Integrated Cargo Carrier, or ICC, an unpressurized flat bed pallet and keel yoke assembly used to support the transfer of exterior cargo from the shuttle to the station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the last scheduled flight for Atlantis.
For more information on the STS-132 mission objectives, payload and crew, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Tom Farrar