NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis: Ready for launch

After the day-long Flight Readiness Review at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, senior NASA and contractor managers voted unanimously to set space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 launch date as July 8 at 11:26 a.m. EDT.

"We had a very thorough review," said Bill Gerstenmaier, assistant administrator for space operations.

"This flight is incredibly important. The cargo that is coming up on this flight is really mandatory for space station."

"We're really looking forward to achieving this mission, putting station where it needs to be and finishing strong with the shuttle program here with STS-135," added Mike Moses, Space Shuttle Program launch integration manager.

"Atlantis is in great shape out at the pad," said Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director.

"Team Atlantis is feeling good about the flow and the launch countdown and hope we'll be able to get her off the ground on Friday the 8th as scheduled."

The STS-135 mission to the International Space Station is the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.