Discovery and seven astronauts blasted into orbit yesterday on America's first manned space shot since the 2003 Columbia disaster, ending a painful, two-and-half-a-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 US space program and the future of space exploration itself.

"Our long wait may be over. So on behalf of the many millions of people who believe so deeply in what we do, good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there," Launch Director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts right before lift-off.

Space program employees and relatives of both the Discovery and Columbia crews watched nervously as the shuttle rose from its pad at 10:39 AM (1439 GMT), climbed into a hazy midsummer sky, pierced two decks of clouds, and headed out over the ocean in the most scrutinized launch in NASA history. Two chase planes and more than 100 cameras documented the ascent from every possible angle to capture any sign of flying debris of the sort that doomed the last flight.

There was no immediate word from NASA on launch damage to the spacecraft. The multitude of images will not be fully analyzed and NASA will not give a final verdict on whether Discovery is safe to return to Earth until halfway through the 12-day flight.

The fuel-gauge problem that thwarted a launch attempt two weeks ago did not resurface before lift-off, to NASA's great relief, and the countdown was remarkably smooth.

NASA did not immediately say how the sensors performed during the climb to orbit, but everything appeared to go well.

A TV camera mounted on Discovery's giant orange external fuel tank provided an unprecedented view of the shuttle's climb to orbit and the tank being jettisoned back toward Earth as designed.

During the mission, commander Eileen Collins and her crew will deliver supplies to the international space station and test new techniques for inspecting and patching the shuttle in orbit.

The 114th shuttle lift-off came after painful self-examination on NASA's part, extensive safety modifications to the spacecraft and many months of hurdles and setbacks.

A launch attempt July 13 was scrapped after one of four critical hydrogen-fuel gauges in the external tank failed just two hours before lift-off.

(China Daily July 27, 2005)