Posted: Tue, Jul 26, 2005, 12:50 PM ET (1650 GMT)
The space shuttle Discovery lifted off on schedule Tuesday morning on the first shuttle mission since the Columbia accident nearly two and a half years ago. Discovery launched on mission STS-114 at 10:39 am EDT (1539 GMT), after a countdown largely free of any technical issues. A problem with a fuel sensor that scrubbed a launch attempt on July 13 did not reoccur, and weather conditions for the launch were ideal. Discovery is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station on Thursday morning.

Related Links:

•  Reuters article
•  AP article
•  SPACE.com article
•  MSNBC article
•  Spaceflight Now mission status center