Water begins pouring across the mobile launcher platform underneath space shuttle Atlantis as it lifts off.

Water begins pouring across the mobile launcher platform underneath space shuttle Atlantis as it lifts off on the STS-123 mission. The water provides sound suppression over the roar of the engines and solid rocket boosters. Liftoff was on time at 2:28 a.m. EDT. Endeavour's crew will make a record-breaking 16-day mission to the International Space Station and deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Photo credit: NASA/SScott Haun, Richard Pricket