Reuters: Shuttle Discovery launches 25 October

The U.S. space shuttle Discovery blasted off on a pillar of fire on Tuesday, soaring above Florida marshlands toward a rendezvous in two days with the International Space Station.

News from Reuters

The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday for a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. The seven astronauts aboard the shuttle are to deliver parts of a Japanese laboratory to the orbiting space station and conduct five spacewalks.

The US space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven finally headed into space on Thursday after a long-delayed mission to the International Space Station to deliver the European Columbus space laboratory.

The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned to Florida on Wednesday (March 26) capping a milestone flight that brought Japan fully into the International Space Station partnership with the delivery of the first part of its research laboratory. Unexpected clouds at the Kennedy Space Center prompted NASA to skip Endeavour's first landing opportunity and delay touchdown until 8:39 p.m. EDT (0039 Thursday GMT), ending the 122nd shuttle mission in darkness, just as it began 16 days ago. The shuttle dropped off at the space station a storage room for Japan's elaborate Kibo laboratory, as well as a Canadian robot to help astronauts maintain the $100 billion outpost.

Officials believe it was caused by falling ice during Wednesday's take off.

Launched from Cape Canaveral, a giant Atlans ICBM soars aloft. It is the largest satellite yet evolved, with its 800 lb. bulk more than double the mass of Russia's Sputnik III, and the first one ever self-guided into orbit. Using its revolutionary new space communications system which enables it to receive messages from earth and rebroadcast them, it sends President Eisenhower's goodwill greeting to the world.

History of the Space shuttle

The shuttle, which is delivering an Italian-built module to serve as the berthing port for the new labs, linked up with the $100 billion space outpost more than 200 miles (320 km) above Earth, two days after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.