Ceremony held for Atlantis' final journey

It's the end of an era for NASA Friday. The final space shuttle departed on its journey from the gated Kennedy Space Center to its new home at the Visitor Complex.

Atlantis did not go too far though.

The shuttle began its departure from the Vehicle Assembly Building for a daylong journey to the Visitor Complex where it will be placed on display.

It was the last opportunity to see a shuttle in motion.

Around 1 p.m., the shuttle arrived at Space Florida's Exploration Park.

Just after 7 p.m., fireworks celebrated the historic day as the shuttle sat just outside its new home.

Atlantis weighs 154,000 pounds and the transporter it's on top of, is another 167,000 pounds. They won't be going too fast, only 2 miles per hour.

Atlantis traveled 126 million miles in space, now it's final journey is just 10 more miles here on earth. It's headed to its new home, a $100 million facility still under construction at the Visitor Complex.

It will take some 11 hours to get there, with planned stops along the way. The stops included a ceremony when NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden turns over Atlantis to the Visitor Complex in front of KSC Headquarters. Another part of the celebration is a stop at Space Exploration Park.

For many -- watching Atlantis head to its final destination is emotional.

"I think we are all invested in this as Americans. So I think we just wanted to get a feel for where it is and where it's going," said Lauren Berg from Jacksonville.

Seventy percent of Atlantis' journey will be on gated Space Center property, so it won't be as challenging as moving Shuttle Endeavour through the streets of Los Angeles last month.

At the Space Center, 120 light poles were removed, along with 23 traffic signals, 56 traffic signs and one high voltage power line were taken down to make way for Atlantis.

The Atlantis exhibit is due to open in July of 2013. The operator of Kennedy's visitor complex, Delaware North, is footing the bill for the $100 million Atlantis exhibit.

Atlantis is the last space shuttle to leave the coop. Discovery left for the Smithsonian in Virginia in April. Endeavour headed to California in September.

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