NASA delayed the planned landing of the space shuttle Atlantis by at least a day tonight after engineers spotted an object that may have accidentally flown out of its cargo bay.

In a routine familiar to travellers on Earth, shuttle astronauts were spending this morning packing their things, indulging in their surroundings for one last day and making sure their vehicle is ready for the ride home.

A Russian-built rocket carrying a new US-Russian crew and the world’s first female space tourist lifted off today and streaked into the cloudless sky over Kazakhstan, heading for the international space station.