The final mission of the United States space shuttle programme is underway.
The shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 11.29am on Friday.
Within a minute she disappeared through a bank of cloud over the Atlantic and a rendezvous with the International Space Station on Sunday.
The 12-day mission will ferry 3.5 tonnes of supplies to the International Space Station.
The ship and her crew will spend seven days docked at the orbiting platform.
Upon its return, the 30-year space shuttle programme will come to a close, with Atlantis and the other two shuttles retired to museums.
For much of the week, a launch had been thought highly unlikely due to weather conditions.
