Atlantis cleared for launch

AFTER months of delay, NASA cleared space shuttle Atlantis for launch today to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Mission managers concluded on Saturday that Atlantis is ready to take off on the long-awaited Hubble repair mission, the fifth and final one. Shuttle Endeavour is also in good shape at the other launch pad; it’s on standby in case Atlantis is damaged in the flight and its seven astronauts need to be rescued.

Weather forecasters gave good odds for launching Atlantis – 80%. What’s more, things were looking more encouraging at the emergency landing site in Spain, where only a slight chance of rain is expected today.