5.3K views · 161 reactions | August 31st - on this day in 2004, ILS International Launch Services launched the final Atlas IIAS rocket from Space Launch Complex 36A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Lockheed Martin-built Atlas II launched 63 times between 1991 and 2004, with a 100% success ratio. For its final flight, it operated the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-1 mission. | NASASpaceflight.com | Facebook

11K views · 82 reactions | BLAST OFF: NASA's Atlas 5 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday morning on a billion-dollar mission, taking with it nuclear detonation detectors and a high-speed laser communications system. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/atlas-5-rocket-launch-today-space-force-satellite-advanced-technology/ | CBS News | Facebook

This Atlas rocket was in restoration at Thomarios in Copley Ohio and arrived yesterday! This will represent the launch vehicle for USAF Maj Gordon Cooper's Mercury-Atlas 9 mission on May 15-16, 1963. His was on the final and longest Mercury mission, lasting more than 34 hours. In his spacecraft Faith 7, Cooper orbited the Earth 22 times. He experienced six times the force of gravity during launch and orbited the Earth at more than 17,000 mph. #spacegeek | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force