Beleaguered space shuttle Atlantis finally blasts off

Published on Sunday 10 September 2006 10:10

AFTER two frustrating weeks of delays, space shuttle Atlantis and its six astronauts blasted off yesterday on a mission to resume construction of the international space station for the first time since the Columbia disaster three and a half years ago.

The shuttle rose from its seaside launch pad through a partly cloudy sky at 4.15pm.

Before liftoff, Brent Jett, Atlantis's commander, said it had taken "almost four years, two return-to-flight missions and a tremendous amount of work by thousands of individuals" to get to the present stage.

"We're confident that in the next few weeks, and the next few years for that matter, Nasa is going to prove to our nation and our friends... that it was worth the wait and we're ready to get to work."

The other crew members are pilot Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Joe Tanner, Dan Burbank, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve MacLean of the Canadian Space Agency.

On the ground, several cameras zoomed in on Atlantis, watching as the spaceship streaked skyward for any signs of hard foam breaking off the big external fuel tank, the problem that doomed Columbia.

A preliminary review of the launch showed no indication of major foam loss before Atlantis separated from its external fuel tank and Nasa declared its crew safely in space.

If the shuttle did not get off the ground this weekend, Nasa would have had to wait until late September or even late October to try again.