Atlantis ends NASA's launch drought

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A summer-long hiatus of shuttle flights had ended with the mid-afternoon blastoff of shuttle Atlantis on a space station assembly mission on Monday. The shuttle, which carries six astronauts and a 14-ton, $390 million segment that will be used to anchor additional power arrays for the station, lifted off at 3:45 p.m. Eastern time.