Shuttle heading for space telescope
Space shuttle Atlantis has blasted off on an 11-day mission to patch up the Hubble Space Telescope.
Atlantis and seven astronauts blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Nasa's final trip to Hubble, which was delayed by seven months.
Atlantis and its crew were supposed to fly to Hubble last autumn, but the telescope broke down.
The shuttle should arrive at the orbiting observatory on Wednesday.
The billion-dollar repair job will feature five spacewalks.
Astronauts will install new cameras, batteries and gyroscopes, and attempt to fix two broken scientific instruments.
Another shuttle is on a launch pad and ready to lift off on a rescue mission if Atlantis is seriously damaged during the 11-day flight.
