Atlantis Space Shuttle Landing: The Dramatic Photos from NASA

Just before 6am Eastern Time on Thursday, the space shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the end of NASA's 30-year shuttle program.

It was a bittersweet morning as NASA's shuttle mission returned to Earth from a 13-day voyage to the International Space Station (ISS). The final trip carried a year's worth of supplies - more than 3,600 kilograms - for the ISS. It also brought up a system that will be used by Canada's Dextre robot to test a system for refueling and repairing spacecraft and satellites in space.

Atlantis had been in space 32 times and orbited the earth 4,648 times before its final mission. It added 200 orbits and 5,284,862 miles in its final trip.

In February, the space shuttle Discovery, NASA's oldest and most travelled spacecraft, made its final voyage into space. Endeavour flew its final mission to the ISS last May. Following its return, Atlantis will go on display at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The two other retired shuttles are heading to museums in Los Angeles and Virginia.

The U.S. will now focus on inspiring private companies to put astronauts in orbit while NASA will focus its resources on deep space exploration, such as potential landings on asteroids and, eventually, Mars.

Here's a look at Thursdays landing at 5:57 a.m. ET at Kennedy Space Center in Florida: