Branches on the near bank frame the image of Space Shuttle Atlantis as it leaps free of the clouds of smoke and steam.

Branches on the near bank frame the image of Space Shuttle Atlantis as it leaps free of the clouds of smoke and steam, colored by the setting sun, billowing across Launch Pad 39A. The launch nearly eclipses the sun, seen above the service structure at left. Liftoff of Atlantis on mission STS-117 to the International Space Station was on-time at 7:38:04 p.m. EDT. The shuttle is delivering a new segment to the starboard side of the International Space Station's backbone, known as the truss. Three spacewalks are planned to install the S3/S4 truss segment, deploy a set of solar arrays and prepare them for operation. STS-117 is the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four flights planned for 2007. Photo Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Robert Murray