"Pre-flight last meal. What the crew ate before the final shuttle launch: Commander Chris Ferguson: Assorted fruit cup, scrambled egg with cheddar cheese and wheat toast. Pilot Doug Hurley: Strawberries, medium tenderloin steak, eggs over easy, hash brown and wheat toast. Mission specialist Sandra Magnus: Assorted fruit cup, toasted cheese sandwich with tomato on wheat, extra tomatoes on the side and tossed house salad with house dressing. Mission specialist Rex Walheim: Fruit cup with watermelon, strawberries and bananas, turkey sandwich with provolone cheese on sourdough bread."
"The final liftoff of Atlantis! On the shoulders of the space shuttle program, America will continue the dream."
"Good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there."
"Godspeed Atlantis! God Bless America!"
"Its very emotional. And I think its a sad situation for our country and I think we are going to miss the shuttle program and human spaceflight."
"It will be a better situation for the entire world the sooner we get back to manned spaceflight."
"I hope they don't take too long. America has to be strong in the space program."
"I hate to see America take a back seat in the space program."
"Dr. Frank Listello wanted to step outside his Melbourne [Florida] office to witness the final voyage of Atlantis but he had too many patients. He shuddered at the thought of a space program dependent on the Russians for transport and hoped the United States would once again move to the forefront of space exploration."
"I'm very saddened by today's last space shot. Of all the services provided by our government, NASA and the U.S. military have provided our finest moments, created our true heroes and have become the stuff little kids dream of."
"I want to give them the tape when they get older to say we were there to see the last shuttle launch ever. Who knows what we may or may not do in space in the future."
