 Space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the scheduled time 2:38 p.m. (1838 GMT) on Independence Day to become the second space flight after the Columbia disaster in 2003. The shuttle, carrying seven crew members, soared into partly cloudy Florida skies in a thunderous blast of smoke and fire. Two minutes after launch, Discovery's solid rocket boosters cleanly separated from the shuttle. This is the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station and the 32nd flight for Space Shuttle Discovery, and also the first manned launch by the United States on the nation's birthday, just like "a nice fireworks display" for America.
| NKor has a double helping of facial egg today: their fearsome ICBM launch flopped in front of the entire world and after the usual hair-raising threats and chest-thumpings. We launched the shuttle for the umpteenth time. We could go back to the moon if we wanted to. We're a superpower and they're not even also-rans. |
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