spacetoday.net: Atlantis lifts off

Posted: Fri, Jun 8, 2007, 8:41 PM ET (0041 GMT)
STS-117: launch (NASA/KSC)

The space shuttle Atlantis launched Friday evening on a mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 7:38 pm EDT (2338 GMT) Friday reaching orbit about eight minutes later. Weather cooperated for the launch and there were no major technical issues during the countdown. Atlantis will dock with the ISS on Sunday at 3:36 pm EDT (1936 GMT). The main purpose of the STS-117 mission is to install a new truss segment and solar panel to the station. The mission will also feature the rotation of one ISS crew member, with Clay Anderson replacing current ISS astronaut Sunita Williams.