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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Spewing twin columns of fire from the solid rocket boosters, space shuttle Discovery roars into the blue Florida sky toward space on mission STS-120 to the International Space Station. Below the three main engines are the blue cones of light, known as shock or mach diamonds. They are a formation of shock waves in the exhaust plume of an aerospace propulsion system. Liftoff of Discovery was on time at 11:38:19 a.m. EDT. The mission is the 23rd assembly flight to the space station and the 34th flight for Discovery. The STS-120 payload is the Italian-built U.S. Node 2, called Harmony. During the 14-day mission, the crew will install Harmony and move the P6 solar arrays to their permanent position and deploy them. Discovery is expected to complete its mission and return home at 4:50 a.m. EST on Nov. 6. Photo credit: NASA/Jerry Cannon, Mike Kerley, Don Kight