Atlantis' Final Flight | Credit: Bill Ingalls, NASA

The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off Friday from the Kennedy Space Center taking with it a piece of history, not to mention an economic engine that will be hard to replace.

After three decades, the program is folding up, leaving thousands of highly paid, highly educated workers wondering where they go from here. The shuttle’s farewell launch capped off a shortened and largely uneventful week kicked off by the nation’s birthday, which prompted many to take leave of the capital city.

Instead, national news took precedence this week. Days before Atlantis thundered toward the stars, the Casey Anthony murder trial blotted out the sun as the nation’s media microscope turned its gaze on the 25-year-old Orlando mother acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter in a case that boosted cable ratings and set off a flurry of legislative efforts from state lawmakers appalled by the verdict.

Legislators responded as their predecessors have in the face of similar high-profile cases that outraged the public: by saying “there oughta be a law.”

In other news, the Florida Supreme Court weighed in on a pair of cases pitting business interests against consumers as opinions dealing with asbestos and malpractice were decided by the high court.

Meanwhile, the state is gearing up for yet another environmental fight as it prepares to battle the feds over air-quality standards that some say could harm the state’s utility industry.

Finally, BP has told federal officials overseeing Gulf repayment that the region’s economy has shown enough signs of recovery that the company’s liability should be limited going forward.

ATLANTIS MAKES HISTORY:

The shuttle program, indelibly linked to the state – it’s even on Florida’s commemorative quarter -- will soon be talked about in the past tense. Atlantis’ 12-day mission, the last to be flown over a 30-year span, will mark the end of the longest running manned space effort.

The program, which put the Hubble telescope up and linked Earth to the International Space Station, also brought the country and manned space flight to its knees with two of the most-watched tragedies since man ventured into space more than four decades ago, with the disasters that destroyed the Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.

But aside from its role in the nation’s history and scientific endeavors, the shuttle program was a large employer and a key economic driver in the Space Coast. Its end leaves the area wondering what’s to come; how the roughly 9,000 jobs lost will be replaced; and whether those thousands of engineers and others will decide to seek similar work elsewhere or wait for a new job in Brevard County.

Gov. Rick Scott tempered sadness with optimism for a rebound that’s becoming a trademark.

“This is a historic time, and it's sad to see the program end," Scott said in his weekly radio address. "However, I am optimistic that we can attract high-tech aviation and aerospace jobs to the Space Coast because of our highly skilled work force."

CAYLEE’S DEATH LEADS TO RUSH FOR NEW LAWS:

The seven-week trial of Orlando resident Casey Anthony led the news this week as a jury Tuesday found her not guilty of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee -- a controversial verdict that set off a national debate.

By Thursday, two Florida lawmakers had quickly filed a bill called "Caylee's Law" to upgrade from a misdemeanor to a felony a failure to report a missing child, and shortening the time to report a child’s death.