Shuttle's 2001 mission is no space odyssey

The space shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for its first launch of 2001.

It will blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, and fly to the International Space Station where astronauts will deliver the facility's main science laboratory.

The shuttle is now moving at less than 1mph on its crawling transporter and should reach the launchpad some time today. Atlantis is expected to launch on January 19.

NASA engineers tried to roll out the shuttle on Tuesday but a computer problem forced them to stop the operation.

It will be the seventh shuttle mission to the $100bn (about £67bn) the space station, according to CNN.