KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Clouds of smoke and steam billow across Launch Pad 39A as space shuttle Endeavour leaps into the night sky atop twin towers of flame, headed for space on the STS-123 mission. Liftoff was on time at 2:28 a.m. EDT. Endeavour's crew will make a record-breaking 16-day mission to the International Space Station and deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Photo credit: NASA/Rick Wetherington, Tim Terry, Tim Powers
Location Kennedy Space Center, FL
Date March 11, 2008