The US space shuttle Endeavourtook off from Florida today to deliver the first part of a huge Japanese laboratory to the International Space Station.
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Endeavourlifts off
at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Photograph: Reuters/Joe Skipper |
On a rare night launch, the newest of Nasa's three remaining shuttles reached orbit and a top speed of just over 28,000kph (17,000mph) around eight minutes after liftoff.
Endeavour's crew is scheduled to spend 16 days in orbit and 12 days at the space station, the longest visit to the $100 billion (€65 billion) orbital outpost.
In addition to a storage module for Japan's double-decker bus-sized Kibo space laboratory, the main part of which will be hoisted to space in late May, Endeavouris carrying a Canadian-built two-armed robotic system.