Shuttle soars to space station after launch delays

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - U.S. space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from its seaside launch pad on Wednesday, ending a month of delays to a mission intended to complete construction of Japan's Kibo research laboratory on the International Space Station.

On its sixth launch attempt, NASA's 127th space shuttle mission began at 6:03 p.m. (11:03 p.m. British time) when Endeavour's twin solid-fuel booster rockets ignited, sending the 4.5 million pound (2.04 million-kg) spaceship into the steamy Florida sky.

"The weather is finally cooperating, so it is now time to fly," launch director Pete Nickolenko radioed to the crew shortly before liftoff. "Persistence pays off. Good luck and godspeed."

Riding atop a pillar of smoke and flame, the shuttle soared over the Atlantic Ocean en route to an orbital rendezvous with the space station on Friday 220 miles (354 km) above Earth.

Two launch attempts last month were scuttled by hydrogen fuel leaks. A third attempt on Saturday ended when NASA ordered checks of the shuttle's electrical systems following a spate of lightning strikes, and Sunday and Monday launch attempts were cancelled due to poor weather.

Televised replays of the launch broadcast by NASA showed small clouds of debris, possibly foam from the external fuel tank, that appeared to hit the underside of the shuttle about one minute and 45 seconds after liftoff.

"We had some foam loss events," NASA's spaceflight chief Bill Gerstenmaier told a post-launch news conference.

He said a detailed analysis would come after the station crew takes pictures of the shuttle's heat shield prior to Endeavour's docking on Friday but it was too soon to talk about potential damage.