KSC-07pd1441

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Clouds of smoke and steam roll across Launch Pad 39A as Space Shuttle Atlantis races toward the heavens and its rendezvous with the International Space Station on mission STS-117. Liftoff was on-time at 7:38:04 p.m. EDT. The shuttle is delivering a new segment to the starboard side of the International Space Station's backbone, known as the truss. Three spacewalks are planned to install the S3/S4 truss segment, deploy a set of solar arrays and prepare them for operation. STS-117 is the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four flights planned for 2007. Photo courtesy of Nikon/Scott Andrews