Students at H. Frank Carey High School gathered proudly Monday to watch as one of their alumnus blasted off into space on the Atlantis shuttle.

A space shuttle successfully launched for an 11-day mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. One of the astronauts on the mission is Mike Massimino, of Franklin Square. He is tasked with performing some delicate repairs on the telescope.

Massimino graduated H. Frank Carey High School in 1980.

"It really was that little boy dream that started when I was growing up on Long Island that led to this,? Massimino told News 12 Long Island. ?And it can happen, amazingly enough!"

Carey students say Massimino?s success inspires them on a personal level.

"It shows that anybody in this town can achieve whatever they set their mind to,? says 11th-grader Brian Camarda.

In addition to Massimino's presence, the 106th Rescue Wing was also on standby in the event something went wrong in the early stages of the flight. The 106th has been present at every shuttle launch since 1988.

NASAMission to HubbleRead about Servicing Mission 4