Shuttle Atlantis Blasts Off

AP ^ | Feb 7 | MARCIA DUNN

[Joiseydude]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - After two months of delay, shuttle Atlantis blasted off Thursday with Europe's gift to the international space station, a $2 billion science lab named Columbus that spent years waiting to set sail. Atlantis and its seven-man crew roared away from their seaside launch pad at 2:45 p.m., overcoming fuel gauge problems that thwarted back- to-back launch attempts in December.

The same cold front that spawned killer tornadoes across the South earlier in the week stayed far enough away and, in the end, cut NASA a break. All week, bad weather had threatened to delay the flight, making liftoff all the sweeter for the shuttle team. The sky was cloudy at launch time, but rain and thunderstorms remained off to the west.

[Mr. Jeeves]

...a $2 billion science lab named Columbus...

Uh...they weren't required to rename it "Indigenous Peoples Module One"? ;)

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Space shuttle Endeavour’s next flight to the International Space Station will truly be an international endeavor.

“This is the first flight where we actually have all the partners,” said Dana Weigel, the lead station flight director. “It’s not just ‘a Japanese flight,’ or ‘a Canadian flight.’ This flight truly is the first time that it requires every single partner actively participating to make everything work. I think that’s a great milestone.”

Image above: Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, the STS-123 crew members await the start of a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at Johnson Space Center. From the right are astronauts Dominic L. Gorie, commander; Gregory H. Johnson, pilot; Richard M. Linnehan, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Takao Doi, Robert L. Behnken, all mission specialists; Garrett E. Reisman, Expedition 16 flight engineer; and Michael J. Foreman, mission specialist. Image credit: NASA

[OESY]

.

[Slapshot68]

“Uh...they weren’t required to rename it “Indigenous Peoples Module One”? ;)”

LOL..yeah given how PC Europe is, I’m surprised at this. May as well named it “Napolean One.”

[Names Ash Housewares]

Watched it live.

Beautiful launch!

GO Atlantis!

The shuttle surge begins.

There will be a fast line up of launches after this.

[Slapshot68]

We were in Disney World Dec 2006 and were set to see a shuttle blast off...but it was scrubbed due to weather. Would’ve been so cool. I’ve always wanted to see one go up.

[synbad600]

Damn! At work, missed it.

[RightWhale]

This should have been appended to the LIVE thread as it is no longer breaking news.

[-=SoylentSquirrel=-]

[utherdoul]

2 billion tax payer dollars? For that kind of money they damned well better be building me a moon mansion

[A.A. Cunningham]

Europe's gift to the international space station, a $2 billion science lab named Columbus that spent years waiting to set sail.

I know that Massachusetts is a socialist state but when did you yahoos secede and become part of the European Union?

[Calvin Locke]

When I heard "gift" on the radio, I thought the use of that term was bizarre for what has been a planned addition for years.

"Contribution" would have been the better choice.

Pity that j-schools have abandoned commonsense in the use of writers' tools for the trade, such as a thesaurus.

[cinives]

My parents live down the coast about an hour from Canaveral, and they said it was somewhat cloudy and they didn’t get much more than a glimpse.

[utherdoul]

I can’t tell the difference most of the time but I guess I had a brain freeze.