Network Special Reports for Lift-off of Shuttle Atlantis — the Final Mission

Shuttle Atlantis and its four-person crew — the smallest since 1983 — lifted off from Kennedy Space Center this morning just a couple minutes behind schedule.

CBS News sent “Evening News” anchor Scott Pelley to Cape Canaveral for coverage of the shuttle program’s final mission. He’ll anchor his first remote broadcast from KSC tonight.

NBC’s Brian Williams anchored a special report from New York. NBC’s space man for 53 years, Jay Barbree has covered all of manned American space flight. Today’s was his 166th mission — by comparison this was the 135th mission for the Shuttle program.

Josh Elliott anchored ABC’s special, and Bill Hemmer anchored FOX’s special from New York.

The NBC News special report, after the jump…

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