Bush wishes Discovery crew 'safe mission'

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”.

“I thank the men and women of NASA who have dedicated themselves to putting our space programme back on track,” Bush said in a statement.

“Our space programme is a source of great national pride, and this flight is an essential step toward our goal of continuing to lead the world in space science, human space flight, and space exploration,” he went on.

Discovery and its seven astronauts blasted into orbit and ended the programme’s shutdown that came in the wake of the February 1, 2003, break-up of Columbia during its return to Earth.

At stake after today’s blast-off were not only the lives of the astronauts, but also America’s pride in its technological prowess, the fate of the US space programme and the future of space exploration itself.

"Our long wait may be over. So on behalf of the many millions of people who believe so deeply in what we do, good luck, God speed, and have a little fun up there," launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts right before lift-off.

Space program employees and relatives of both the Discovery and Columbia crews watched nervously as the shuttle rose from its pad, climbed into a hazy midsummer sky, in the most scrutinised launch in NASA history.

Two chase planes and more than 100 cameras documented the ascent from every possible angle to capture any sign of flying debris of the sort that doomed the last flight.

The multitude of images will not be fully analysed – and NASA will not give a final verdict on whether Discovery is safe to return to Earth – until halfway through the 12-day flight.

The fuel-gauge problem that thwarted a launch attempt two weeks ago did not resurface before lift-off, to NASA’s great relief, and the countdown was remarkably smooth.

The space agency had been prepared to bend its safety rules to get the shuttle flying.