Atlantis launched, heads for International Space Station
<noinclude>
[[Image:STS-117launch2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|''Atlantis'' blasts off on mission STS-117.]]
{{NASA-Atlantis_Infobox|addsection1=
{{InfosectionStart|name=Related News|style=margin-top: 10px; background: #FFCCCC;}}
*{{Wikinews|title=Heat protection system on Space Shuttle Atlantis damaged during liftoff|date=June 9, 2007}}
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}}
{{date|June 9, 2007}}

In the first space flight of 2007, [[w:Space Shuttle Atlantis|Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'']] blasted off on schedule yesterday, starting on an 11-day mission to the [[w:International Space Station|International Space Station]].

''Atlantis'' and its seven astronauts lifted off at 7:38 p.m. EDT (2338 GMT) from the launch pad at [[w:Kennedy Space Center|Kennedy Space Center]], [[w:Florida|Florida]]. The launch pad, newly refurbished by [[NASA]], had not been used since the launch of [[w:Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']], which ended in disaster on Feb. 1, 2003.
''Atlantis'' is scheduled to dock with the space station at around 1930 GMT tomorrow.

The goal for the ''Atlantis'' crew is to carry out the two missions that were left incomplete from the previous flight due to broken and jammed equipments. During the flight, the shuttle and its seven astronauts will deliver a new segment and will install energy-producing solar panels to the International Space Station. The payload is the heaviest ever flown to the space station, and includes a 45-foot (14-meter), 35,678-pound (16,183 kilogram) aluminium segment that will become part of the station's superstructure.

===Trouble-plagued mission===
The mission, [[w:STS-117|STS-117]] has been dogged by trouble. It was scheduled to launch in March, but a hailstorm in February damaged the orange external fuel tank, so the shuttle had to be rolled back into the [[w:Vehicle Assembly Building|Vehicle Assembly Building]] for repairs. After repairs, the tank had white specks visible in the orange insulation, and there was some concern over whether the insulation would hold. Falling foam insulation was blamed for the ''Columbia'' crash, in which all seven astronauts aboard were killed.

But yesterday's launch appeared to be flawless. "Give me more speckled tanks," the shuttle program manager, [[w:N. Wayne Hale Jr.|N. Wayne Hale Jr.]], was quoted as saying.

The delay in the launch of ''Atlantis'' also pushed back other missions.

NASA faced a scandal earlier in the year when one of its astronauts, [[w:Lisa Nowak|Lisa Nowak]], was fired after being charged in the attempted kidnapping of a fellow astronaut, [[w:William Oefelein|William Oefelein]], with whom she had been having an affair.

==Sources==
{{Wikipedia|STS-117}}
*{{source|url=http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Space_shuttle_blasts_off_on_construction_mission.html?siteSect=143&sid=7908768&cKey=1181366546000
|title=Space shuttle blasts off on construction mission
|author=Irene Klotz, Reuters
|pub=Swiss Radio International
|date=June 9, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun09/0,4670,SpaceShuttle,00.html
|title=Patched-up shuttle Atlantis blasts off
|author=Mike Schneider, Associated Press
|pub=Fox News
|date=June 9, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/us/09shuttle.html?ref=spaceandcosmos
|title=Shuttle Atlantis appears to have a flawless liftoff
|author=John Schwartz
|pub=The New York Times
|date=June 9, 2007}}

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[[Category:World]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:NASA]]
[[Category:Science and technology]]
[[Category:International Space Station]]
[[Category:Space Shuttle Atlantis]]

[[pl:Wahadłowiec Atlantis wystartował]]

</noinclude>
Atlantis blasts off on mission STS-117.

In the first space flight of 2007, Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off on schedule yesterday, starting on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

Atlantis and its seven astronauts lifted off at 7:38 p.m. EDT (2338 GMT) from the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The launch pad, newly refurbished by NASA, had not been used since the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia, which ended in disaster on Feb. 1, 2003.
Atlantis is scheduled to dock with the space station at around 1930 GMT tomorrow.

The goal for the Atlantis crew is to carry out the two missions that were left incomplete from the previous flight due to broken and jammed equipments. During the flight, the shuttle and its seven astronauts will deliver a new segment and will install energy-producing solar panels to the International Space Station. The payload is the heaviest ever flown to the space station, and includes a 45-foot (14-meter), 35,678-pound (16,183 kilogram) aluminium segment that will become part of the station's superstructure.

But yesterday's launch appeared to be flawless. "Give me more speckled tanks," the shuttle program manager, N. Wayne Hale Jr., was quoted as saying.

The delay in the launch of Atlantis also pushed back other missions.

NASA faced a scandal earlier in the year when one of its astronauts, Lisa Nowak, was fired after being charged in the attempted kidnapping of a fellow astronaut, William Oefelein, with whom she had been having an affair.


pl:Wahadłowiec Atlantis wystartował
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