KEY POINTS:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - The US space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from its seaside launch pad on today and soared toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station.
Riding atop a plume of flames, the shuttle and its seven astronauts thundered off from the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida at 7:38pm (11.38am NZT) on NASA's first shuttle mission of the year.
Eight and a half minutes after lift-off, the shuttle reached space, beginning a mission delayed for three months by damage the spaceship sustained during a hailstorm in February.
"It took us a little while to get to this point, but the ship's in great shape. It's beautiful weather for you out there, so good luck and Godspeed," shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach told the crews shortly before lift-off.
The shuttle is to arrive at the space station shortly after 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday (Monday NZT) and it will be delivering two huge segments of the station's structural backbone.
The exterior truss components include two solar wing panels and a rotary joint so the wings can track the sun and provide electricity to the station, which hovers about 350km above Earth and is slightly more than halfway built.
Atlantis' flight is currently planned for 11 days, with landing at the Kennedy Space Center on June 19.
- REUTERS
