STS-34 Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, lifts off from KSC LC Pad 39B

STS-34 Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39B at 12:53:39:983 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). This aerial view shows OV-104, its external tank (ET), and two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) rising high above LC Pad 39B atop a plume of exhaust smoke. Atlantic Ocean is visible in the background. The liftoff marks the beginning of a five-day mission in space.