CLOUDS prevented the space shuttle Endeavour from blasting off yesterday on the last planned nighttime shuttle launch, delaying its trip with a final few building blocks for the International Space Station.

With 100 internet-savvy Nasa fans cheering on the shuttle and churning out constant Twitter updates, Atlantis sailed smoothly into orbit with six astronauts and a full load of spare parts for the International Space Station.

Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery woke up to their first day in space today, where the first order of business will be to make sure their ship was not damaged during launch.

Flashes of flame from space shuttle Discovery lit up the darkened sky as the space shuttle blazed off the launch pad for the first night-time lift-off in four years.

NASA yesterday postponed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to restart construction of the International Space Station after a fuel sensor failed, officials said.

The US shuttle Discovery finally blasted off into space today, taking British-born astronaut Piers Sellers with it.

From the Johnson Space Centre in Texas to Capitol Hill in Washington DC, the relief was obvious when space shuttle Discovery safely returned to terra firma.

SPACE shuttle Discovery and seven astronauts blasted off yesterday on America’s first manned space shot since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

President Bush celebrated Tuesday’s launch of the space shuttle Discovery, applauding the mission after watching the crew’s takeoff on television and wishing them “a safe and successful mission”.

The launch of the first space shuttle flight in two and a half years has been delayed until at least Saturday because of a fuel gauge that mistakenly read full instead of empty.

A FAULTY fuel gauge on Discovery’s external tank forced NASA to call off last night’s launch of the first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster two-and-a-half years ago.

A faulty fuel-tank sensor forced Nasa to call off today’s launch of Discovery, which would have been the first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster two-and-a-half years ago.

Space shuttle Discovery completed a 10 1/2-hour trip to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral today after a brief delay caused by the discovery of a crack in the external fuel tank’s foam insulation.

After nearly a week of delays, space shuttle Endeavour blasted off under heavy protection on a flight to deliver a new crew to the international space station.

The space shuttle Endeavour thundered away from Cape Canaveral in Florida last night, carrying seven astronauts on a mission to install a massive billion-dollar robot arm on the international space station.

The space shuttle Endeavour has thundered away from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Space shuttle Discovery has blasted off to rendezvous with the international space station, Alpha.