spacetoday.net: Discovery lifts off

Posted: Tue, Oct 23, 2007, 2:58 PM ET (1858 GMT)
STS-120: launch (NASA/KSC)

The space shuttle Discovery lifted off Tuesday morning on a mission to the International Space Station. Discovery launched on schedule at 11:38 am EDT (1538 GMT). having dodged poor weather that had been forecast, as well as a last-minute concern about ice buildup on a liquid hydrogen line that launch controllers determined was not a hazard to launch. The 14-day mission to the station features the delivery of Harmony, a new docking node for the station, and the move of a solar panel segment to its permanent location on the station's port-side truss. The seven-person crew also includes one astronaut, Dan Tani, who will remain behind on the station; current ISS astronaut Clay Anderson will return to Earth on Discovery.