Following a smooth countdown and picture-perfect liftoff, space shuttle Atlantis and a crew of seven astronauts are in space. STS-125′s 11-day mission is to service NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis lifted off at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 11th at 2:01 p.m. EDT.

Being a big fan of the space program, I usually make myself walls of the ongoing mission.  I figured I may as well share them. Photo credits are noted in the lower left corners.

Click the small image to load the full size 1600×1200 image.

Night falls on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following rollback of the pad's rotating service structure, or RSS, revealing space shuttle Atlantis in all its glory.

Under a dry, hot, cloud-washed Florida sky, space shuttle Atlantis roars off Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with its crew of seven for a rendezvous with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.