Space shuttle Discovery carried seven astronauts into orbit Saturday on its first nighttime launch since the 2003 Columbia accident, departing Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in a billowing cloud of white smoke.
The craft reached orbit roughly nine minutes after liftoff, carrying an $11 million truss segment destined for the International Space Station. Its two solid rocket boosters separated on schedule about two minutes into the flight, and the external fuel tank was released shortly after.
The three shuttle missions following the Columbia breakup had all launched in daylight so cameras could monitor the external tank for debris. A chunk of insulating foam that broke free during Columbia's 2003 launch damaged its heat shield, causing the vehicle to disintegrate on re-entry and killing all seven crew members aboard.
Discovery's flight is the fourth shuttle mission since that disaster and one of 14 NASA has planned to complete ISS construction by 2010, the year the three-shuttle fleet is scheduled for retirement. A pair of solar arrays installed on the station in September are expected to be activated during this mission.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.