We Have Lift Off!
After 2 1/2 years of no space flight since Columbia exploded on re-entry and a few technical difficulties, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off this morning at 10:39 am EDT.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Discovery and seven astronauts blasted into orbit Tuesday on America’s first manned space shot since the 2003 Columbia disaster, ending a painful, 2 1/2-year shutdown devoted to making the shuttle less risky and NASA more safety-conscious. At stake were not only the lives of the astronauts, but also America’s pride in its technological prowess, the fate of the U.S. space program and the future of space exploration itself.
“It’s about hope, it’s about imagination, it’s about the future, and when you take away a great space program, you take away a lot of people’s future,” Griffin told the AP. “What’s riding on this flight is people’s hope for the future.”
AP Photo
