Space shuttle Discovery blasted off for the last time last night, carrying six astronauts and carting a load of supplies, spare parts and a robot for the International Space Station.
The shuttle lifted off at 9.53pm (Irish time) from the Kennedy Space Center, riding a flame-tipped pillar of smoke across the Atlantic Ocean as it soared through partly cloudy skies toward space.
The launch was delayed three minutes due to a glitch with a range safety computer minutes before the scheduled liftoff. The problem was resolved with seconds to spare.
"This was one for the record books," said launch director Mike Leinbach.
Discovery's fuel tank shed at least four pieces of insulating foam during the climb to orbit, but none posed a threat to the ship, Nasa said. The agency has been concerned about foam debris since the disintegration of shuttle Columbia upon re-entry in 2003 due to damage from a piece of falling insulation during liftoff.
Discovery's launch was the 133rd in the 30-year-old shuttle programme, with up to two flights remaining before the United States retires its three-ship fleet later this year.
Discovery made 39 of those flights, including both return-to-flight missions following the fatal Challenger and Columbia accidents, and delivering the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.
"I think what will be most difficult will be on landing day when we know that that's the end of her mission, completely," Mr Leinbach said.
The shuttles are being retired due to high operational costs and to free up money to develop new vehicles capable of traveling beyond the space station's orbit.
Reuters