By Gina Gomez
Cape Canaveral, Nov.17, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The space shuttle Atlantis was successfully launched on Monday afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral by space agency NASA. Fortunately, the launch could take place without any hurdle plaguing its journey. The shuttle which has six members on-board is scheduled for a eleven days journey and would be providing spare parts and supplies to the International Space Station which orbits at a distance of 350km above the surface of the earth.

This launch is the first of the the five proposed trips that are scheduled to take place till the month of September next year. These trips have been planned with the aim of providing the International Space Station with all the necessary hardware that would be required by it to serve the purpose of a orbiting lab. Moreover, this mission is said to be of immense significance as it would lead to the enhancement in the space station’s life span to a large extent.

The much anticipated launch was watched by large number of people who were present at the venue who cheered as Atlantis commenced its journey. Supposedly, the space shuttle is set to have an encounter with the space station on Wednesday. After serving its purpose, the space shuttle is scheduled to come back from its journey by November 27. Atlantis is scheduled to fly till the year 2010, when the shuttle program would come to an end. The space shuttle was the fourth operational shuttle that was constructed and in the year 1985 it was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center.