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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - The US space shuttle Endeavour has blasted off to resume construction of the International Space Station, freshly overhauled and carrying a teacher-turned-astronaut who trained for the ill-fated Challenger mission.
Endeavour lifted off its Florida seaside launch pad at 6:36pm EDT/1036 NZT on a pillar of flames that gleamed like gold in the early evening light, beginning a two-day journey to the US$100 billion ($131.89 billion) orbital outpost.
It was the second of four shuttle flights Nasa plans this year, a pace the US space agency needs to maintain to finish building the space station before the remaining shuttles are retired in three years.
"We'll see you in a couple of weeks and thanks for loaning us your space shuttle," shuttle commander Scott Kelly told the launch team before liftoff.
Endeavour last flew in 2002, before the Columbia accident grounded the shuttle fleet for 2-1/2 years. In the interim, the spacecraft underwent inspections, and major maintenance and equipment upgrades.
In the shuttle's cargo bay was a new beam for the station's primary support structure, a replacement gyroscope needed to help position the outpost in orbit and more than 2268kg of equipment and supplies for the station.
Much of the attention on Endeavour's flight has fallen on one of its seven astronauts, rookie flier Barbara Morgan who originally trained as the backup to the teacher who launched on the shuttle Challenger in January 1986.
Christa McAuliffe never got to conduct her lessons from space. She and her crewmates were killed 73 seconds after launch when a booster rocket failed.
To continue McAuliffe's mission, Morgan left the classroom and became a fully fledged astronaut in 1998.
"She's an astronaut who used to be a teacher," Nasa administrator Michael Griffin said in an interview. "She's a (robot) arm operator on this mission and the guys tell me that she's a good one."
Morgan plans to conduct some teacher-in-space activities, such as fielding questions from schoolchildren at museums and science centers. More in-depth educational initiatives are planned for after Morgan's return.
Morgan eventually plans to return to classroom teaching, trusting that three more teachers who have since joined the astronaut corps will carry on in her footsteps.
"This mission is symbolic," Morgan said before her mission. "I know that people will be thinking about not just Christa, but the Challenger crew and the Challenger mission. And that's a good thing."
Endeavour's smooth launch was a boost to Nasa, which has been battered by allegations of inebriated astronauts boarding spaceships for launch and the sabotage of a piece of space station hardware.
It has also had to cope with continuing fallout from the escapades of former astronaut Lisa Nowak, whom police say drove from Houston to Orlando in diapers to confront a love rival.
Morgan and her crewmates planned to inspect on Thursday the shuttle's wing panels and nosecap for damage from debris strikes during liftoff.
The scans are part of safety upgrades made after the 2003 Columbia accident, which was caused by a piece of insulation foam falling off the fuel tank during liftoff and striking a wing. The damage caused the shuttle's heat shield to fail as it flew through the atmosphere for landing 16 days later.
- REUTERS
