Shuttle heads to space station

Atlantis carries a $2 billion European laboratory.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

The space shuttle Atlantis launched Thursday on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station, following weeks of delays and technical glitches that threatened to set back NASA’s station construction schedule.

The spacecraft lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 2:45 p.m. EST after thick clouds that threatened to cancel the launch suddenly broke over the central Florida coastline.

“Looks like today’s a good day and we’re ready to go fly,” said shuttle commander Stephen Frick.

“We wish you smooth sailing to the New World among the stars,” said launch official Jerry Goodsen, making one of many launch-day references to Christopher Columbus’ journey to America.

The reason was that Atlantis is carrying a 10-ton, $2 billion European laboratory module named Columbus in its payload bay. The 23-foot-long, 15-foot-wide laboratory, which will support biology and physics experiments in space, is Europe’s major contribution to the space station.

Scores of European scientists and politicians gathered at Kennedy for the much-awaited event. They celebrated the launch with Belgian and French chocolates, as well as grape juice, a substitute for champagne in keeping with NASA’s rules against alcohol.

The launch appeared to go smoothly, although cameras on the ground and on the spacecraft saw three possible incidents of ice or insulating foam flaking off the external fuel tank.