KSC-2010-3402

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an exhaust plume builds on Launch Pad 39A as space shuttle Atlantis' engines ignite. Liftoff occurred right on time at 2:20 p.m. EDT on May 14. Atlantis' primary payload for the STS-132 mission is the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1, which will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft aboard the International Space Station. STS-132 is the 132nd shuttle flight, the 32nd for Atlantis and the 34th shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance. For more information on the STS-132 mission objectives, payload and crew, visit www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Sandra Joseph and Kevin O'Connell