LAUNCH

Atlantis has been in space 32 times since 1985, and orbited the earth 4,648 times, but she's about to make her last journey.

At 8:55 a.m. Friday, NASA updated its STS-135 Atlantis Launch Blog, saying the ground launch sequencer has been activated. For now, it is monitoring critical commands and systems, but once the countdown reaches T-9 minutes and counting, the program will take over all of the vehicle's critical functions. The boarding process should take a little more than an hour and the hatch will be closed for flight at about 9:21 a.m., according to NASA.

Lightning caused by a severe thunderstorm produced two strikes near NASA's space shuttle Atlantis launch pad. Meanwhile, the shuttle's launch preparations continue as scheduled.

Not a single day passes without a new rumor regarding the launch date and features of Apple's next generation iPhone, and one has to admit majority of them are unsubstantiated, baseless or plain ridiculous. Some iPhone 5 rumors are the kind that make you laugh.

STS-135 Launch Pad Lightning Strike Video

The Space Coast Office of Tourism offers some tips for visitors wishing to view the final launch.

There is a better than likely chance that thunderstorms inundating the Cape Canaveral area could force NASA technicians to push back the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis -- NASA's final launch for the shuttle program.

Up to 1,000,000 people are expected to pack Florida's Space Coast for a glimpse of the last shuttle liftoff in the history of the U.S. Space Program. That's more than any other mission, save the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

Here are some options for Friday's historic last launch and flight for the U.S. Space Shuttle program.

The Atlantis Space Shuttle launch may not happen on the planned time of 11:26 a.m. ET July 8 due to the weather.

The final shuttle launch may be hit by a wave of tropical storms, pushing the possibility of delay up to 70 percent.

The historic Atlantis Space Shuttle launch on July 8 will likely be derailed by weather, according to NASA.

Lenovo's launch of a home videogame console in China this year may throw into question the country's decade-old ban on the gadgets and could eventually open the $5.8 billion Chinese game market to Sony Corp and Microsoft.

NASA space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to blast off to the International Space Station at 11:26 am EDT on July 8, which will be the final flight in the 30-year shuttle program.

China's top e-commerce group Alibaba Group is preparing to launch a mobile operating system in the third quarter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Google+ has been the latest target of the hackers, for the first time in a scam, which involves fake invites to the service.

NASA space shuttle Atlantis is set to liftoff on the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135, a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. The launch is currently targeted for July 8 at 11:26 am EDT.

Google+ is fast becoming an Internet sensation as was evident earlier last week when Google was forced to suspend Google+ invite following an “insane demand” for its social networking service. But does it have what it takes to challenge Facebook and other existing social networking sites?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this week that the company would launch something awesome next week which has been built by Facebook's Seattle team. Industry watchers believe that the awesome thing due next week isn't going to be the Project Spartan that Facebook team has been working on. According to a Techcrunch report, a source with knowledge of the situation said that Facebook will launch a new video chat product, powered by Skype, which works in browser.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social network giant plans to launch something awesome next week, possibly in response to the Google+ release earlier this week.

Google Inc. launched its most aggressive social network effort Google+, which looks remarkably similar to Facebook in terms of aesthetics and could pose as a threat to Facebook's dominance. Will Facebook counter this with 'Facebook+' next week?