Morning Edition

The crew was strapped in for the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis, set to blast off at 11:26 ET on a 12-day mission that will end NASA's shuttle program. Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne talk with NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce, who has a view of the launchpad and an eye on the sky at Kennedy Space Center. She gets a visit from astronaut Mike Fink, who flew on the shuttle Endeavour's final mission just last month. The hosts also check in with NPR's Greg Allen, who's among the thousands gathered on Florida's Space Coast to watch the final launch.

A Colorado company that makes solar panels says its plans to start production at an Indiana facility are on track.  And Abound Solar is expanding its capacity within Colorado too.

The space shuttle Atlantis is fueled and the astronauts are waiting to see if there will be a launch Friday. The weather could delay the final bast off of a shuttle. After 30 years, NASA is ending the program. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce and Wade Goodwyn talk to Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne about the mission.

Nolan Koewler was fired from a Dillard's department store in Evansville, Ind., after July 4, 2010. He'd taken two leftover hot dogs after a company picnic. After losing his job, Koewler sued. He said he didn't hear his boss's instructions to save them. Indiana's Court of Appeals has ordered the store to pay him unemployment benefits.

Just before word came that the scandal-ridden News of the World would fold, one final insult: a boycott. Fish and chips are traditionally wrapped in newspapers. And according to a satirical website, fish were refusing to be wrapped in the British tabloid.