Space Shuttle Launch

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (AP) - After a two-month delay, shuttle
Atlantis has lifted off on its way to the international space
station.
The shuttle blasted off carrying a seven-man crew and a 2
billion-dollar science lab that has been waiting for years to hitch
a ride into space. Columbus is Europe's primary contribution to the
space station and will join the U.S. lab Destiny, which has been in
orbit for seven years.
Fuel gauge problems in December forced NASA to scrub
back-to-back launch attempts. And today the storm system that
unleashed deadly tornadoes across the South had threatened to get
in the way of the space agency's plans. It was cloudy in the
Sunshine State, but the rain and thunderstorms stayed far enough
away so the shuttle could lift off.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)