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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Launch Control Center, NASA and Kennedy Space Center officials observe proceedings before the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-117 to the International Space Station. Second from left is KSC Director Bill Parsons. Second and third from the right are William Gerstenmeier, associate administrator for NASA Space Operations Mission, and Wayne Hale, shuttle program manager, Liftoff from Launch Pad 39A was on-time at 7:38:04 p.m. EDT. The shuttle is delivering a new segment to the starboard side of the International Space Station's backbone, known as the truss. Three spacewalks are planned to install the S3/S4 truss segment, deploy a set of solar arrays and prepare them for operation. STS-117 is the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four flights planned for 2007. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett