Lighting up the early morning sky, the Endeavour space shuttle blasted off from the Cape Canaveral launch pad in Florida on its was to the International Space Station, 200 miles high.
During the lift off, some pieces of insulation form had fallen off from the fuel tank, including a narrow one-foot strip.
As Endeavour slipped into its orbit, astronauts inspected the thermal shielding on the wings and nose.
A foam strike brought down Columbia in 2003, and orbiting astronauts have carried out exhaustive inspections ever since.
Endeavour will have its rendezvous with the International Space Station early Wednesday, performing a slow-motion pirouette for the cameras before docking. The close-up pictures of the shuttle’s belly will provide even more information regarding Endeavour’s health.
The International Space Station has five residents and Endeavour is carrying six astronauts.
It’s been nearly three months since the last shuttle visit. Five missions are planned for this year. After that, NASA is to retire the three remaining shuttles.
Endeavour and its crew of six are to deliver during their 13-day excursion a new room, dubbed Tranquility, to the International Space Station along with an observation dome that will allow for panoramic views and also function as a robotic control station.
The crew plans to conduct three spacewalks during the last major construction project at the 98 percent complete space station.
Tranquility, provided by the European Space Agency, eventually will house life-support and exercise equipment, and a toilet. The dome, also supplied by ESA, will provide unprecedented views of Earth, outer space and the space station itself.
NASA has been flying space shuttles for 29 years and building the space station for 11 years.