Space shuttle Discovery leaps through the clouds into a blue sky on a column of fire trailing smoke.

Space shuttle Discovery leaps through the clouds into a blue sky on a column of fire, trailing smoke, as it heads for the International Space Station on mission STS-120. Billows of clouds and smoke stream across Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff was on time at 11:38:19 a.m. EDT. Discovery carries the Italian-built U.S. Node 2, called Harmony. During the 14-day STS-120 mission, the crew will install Harmony and move the P6 solar arrays to their permanent position and deploy them. Discovery is expected to complete its mission and return home at 4:47 a.m. EST on Nov. 6. Photo credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph, Tony Gray & Robert Murray