The space shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts safely reached orbit this afternoon after a perfect countdown and launch from the Kennedy Space Center.
The crew and their spaceship are now in their preliminary orbit, and moving into position to begin their chase of the International Space Station.
The orbiter and astronauts will deliver a European science laboratory to the outpost, completing a vision decades in the making.
The science laboratory, coincidentally, lifted off from the space center exactly seven years after the first of the ISS science modules launched. Seven years ago today, the United States' own Destiny module was launched from KSC.
Commander Steve Frick and six crewmates are scheduled for an 11-day mission that could be extended to 12 days if needed. Three spacewalks are planned to deliver and install the module.
The two images below are from a camera mounted on the external tank. The first was captured just before external tank separation showing the attached orbiter as the launch vehicle roared toward orbit. The second was snapped just after orbiter separation. The bright light above the tank shows the orbiter reaction control system jets to move away from the falling ET.
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