Wednesday, July 5 2006 11:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the US Independence Day to become the second space flight after the Columbia disaster in 2003.

The shuttle, carrying seven crewmembers, soared into the partly cloudy skies Tuesday in a thunderous blast of smoke and fire at the scheduled time 2.38 p.m. (1838 GMT).

Two minutes after launch, Discovery's solid rocket boosters cleanly separated from the shuttle. This is the 18th US flight to the International Space Station (ISS) and the 32nd flight for Space Shuttle Discovery, and also the first manned launch by the US on the nation's birthday. During the 12-day mission, the crew will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as make crucial repairs to the station. At least two space walks are planned. "The performance of Discovery's external tank has greatly improved," US Space Shuttle Programme Manager Wayne Hale said at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre after the successful launch. Based on early analysis of photographs taken during ascent, just a few items have been identified for further study. Some involve debris particles shed by the massive orange tank. The particles observed were small, and all occured after the time frame - up to two minutes, 15 seconds into ascent - that engineers consider being the most aerodynamically sensitive time for the shuttle. About fifteen minutes into the flight, astronauts on board Discovery filmed a large piece of ice tumbling away from the orbiter. The ice, which forms on the exterior of the main engines, has been observed on previous flight and is not considered an issue.

"We don't see any concern for the orbiter," said Hale and added that in the coming days, the crew will take a closer look at Discovery using the orbiter boom sensor system as well a slow back flip that will allow further photography of the orbiter from the ISS. Two prior launch attempts, on Saturday and Sunday, were postponed due to storm clouds. Some technical problems had also sprung up before Tuesday's lift-off, including a crack found on external fuel tank and a foam that came off from the crack, but after a series of data analyses, NASA decided to go ahead with the launch.