10 WEEKS OF DRAMA

This was the third attempt at launching the rocket, after 10 weeks of technical mishaps, back-to-back hurricanes and two excursions trundling the spacecraft out of its hangar to the launch pad

Four hours before blastoff, crews had to deal with a flurry of simultaneous issues, including a leaky fuel valve. A special team of technicians, who tightened down a loose connection well inside the “blast zone”, thus saving the launch.

(0647 GMT) it lifted off from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center