Endeavour lifts off on two-week mission

The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center early Monday on a two-week mission to the International Space Station.

The shuttle quickly pierced light cloud cover along the Florida coast in a brilliant launch.

The six-member Endeavour crew is delivering a key module to the International Space Station.

Cmdr. George Zamka is leading the STS-130 mission. Joining him aboard are pilot Terry Virts, and mission specialists Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire, NASA said.

The crew is delivering a third connecting module, an Italian-built Tranquility node and a seven-windowed cupola to be used as a control room for robotics. The mission also will include three spacewalks.

It's a busy week for NASA, with the agency also preparing to launch a Solar Dynamics Observatory into orbit aboard an Atlas V rocket on Tuesday.

Only five more shuttle launches are scheduled before the program ends in 2011.

Endeavour was originally scheduled to lift off early Sunday, but low cloud ceilings forced a nearly 24-hour delay.

(cnn.com)