In one week, the Atlantis space shuttle will launch towards the international space station, closing 30 years of NASA shuttle missions. Launch date has been set for 08/07/2011 at 11:46 AM local California time. Hundreds of thousands are expected to gather to witness the historical launch event.

4 crew members will deliver 3.5 tons of cargo to the space station. The Atlantis was technically approved for the journey. In case of malfunction en-route, the astronauts on board will have to spend 10 months on the international space station, waiting for a Russian shuttle to bring them back to Earth, since NASA has no other shuttle to send for their retrieval.