KSC-2010-3419

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. The Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 known as Rassvet, or 'dawn,' is inside the shuttle's cargo bay. It will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. The laboratory will be attached to the bottom port of the station's Zarya module. The mission's three spacewalks will focus on storing spare components outside the station, including six batteries, a communications antenna and parts for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm. 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_Tony Gray and Tom Farrar