KSC-2009-2138

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – From Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery races toward space atop towers of flame. Clouds of smoke and steam engulf the pad below. Launch on mission STS-119 was on time at 7:43 p.m. EDT. The STS-119 mission is the 28th to the space station and Discovery's 36th flight. Discovery will deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and the S6 truss segment. Installation of S6 will signal the station's readiness to house a six-member crew for conducting increased science. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray, Tom Farrar