KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis is captured as it lifts off Launch Pad 39A for a rocket ride into the sky and rendezvous with the International Space Station on mission STS-117. On the mobile launcher platform below Atlantis can be seen the jets of water flooding the surface for sound suppression. Beyond the pad on the horizon is the Atlantic Ocean. Liftoff of Atlantis was on-time at 7:38:04 p.m. EDT. The shuttle is delivering a new segment to the starboard side of the International Space Station's backbone, known as the truss. Three spacewalks are planned to install the S3/S4 truss segment, deploy a set of solar arrays and prepare them for operation. STS-117 is the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four flights planned for 2007. Photo Credit: NASA/Tony Gray & Rick Wetherington KSC-07pp1460
