Shuttle Launches

Space Shuttle Atlantis Launches Beginning an 11 Day Mission, SpaceRef

"The space shuttle finally launched today on it's 11 day mission to the space station. During the mission the crew will continue building the space station adding the P3/P4 integrated truss and a second set of solar arrays on the space station."

NASA's Shuttle Atlantis Begins Mission to the Space Station, NASA

"It's been almost four years, two Return to Flight missions, a tremendous amount of work by thousands of individuals to get the shuttle program back to where we are right now and that's on the verge of restarting the station assembly sequence," said Atlantis' Commander Brent Jett. "We're confident over the next few weeks, and few years for that matter, that NASA's going to prove to our nation, to our partners and our friends around the world that it was worth the wait and the sacrifice. We're ready to get to work."