Atlantis blasts off for ISS mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 8 (UPI) -- Space shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts blasted off Monday afternoon to begin the next phase of space station construction. Two teams of space-walking astronauts have trained to attach a new 44-foot-long exterior truss framework onto the orbital complex in preparation for additional laboratories and energy-producing solar array panels. Liftoff, which had been canceled last week due to a leaky fuel line, occurred at 4:44 p.m. EDT.