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Atlantis lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Thursday, carrying seven astronauts and a European built research module¹. The launch follows a two-month delay needed to fix a problem in the fuel gauge² on the shuttle's external fuel tanks.

美国宇航局的亚特兰蒂斯号航天飞机再次升空，向国际空间站输送一个新的科学实验室。星期四，亚特兰蒂斯号航天飞机带着7名宇航员和一个欧洲建造的科研舱，从佛罗里达的肯尼迪航天中心起飞。

NASA weather officers had expected bad weather to possibly delay the mission, but the storm system did not affect the launch pad.

美国宇航局的气象官员本来预计天气不好，可能会推迟发射，可是风暴并没有影响到发射基地。

A NASA spokesman described the shuttle's trip into orbit.

美国宇航局的发言人描述了亚特兰蒂斯号进入其轨道的情形。

NASA SPOKESMAN: "A smooth and uneventful ascent³, Atlantis now in its preliminary orbit. The Columbus module is headed to the International Space Station."

他说：“航天飞机升空很顺利，没有出现任何问题。亚特兰蒂斯号现在进入了初级轨道。哥伦布舱正朝着国际空间站前进。”

Atlantis is scheduled to dock on Saturday with the International Space Station to deliver the $2 billion Columbus module built by the European Space Agency (ESA). Officials say Columbus will bring new capabilities⁴ to conduct research on the space station, such as experiments into the impact of space travel on humans and various materials. Columbus joins a U.S.-built research module already in space and a Japanese module that is set to be delivered later this year.

亚特兰蒂斯号将于星期六跟国际空间站对接，向其交付欧洲宇航局建造的价值20亿美元的哥伦布舱。官员们说，哥伦布舱将为空间站带来新的研究能力，比如测试太空旅行对人类和各种材料的影响。国际空间站上现在已经有一个美国建造的研究舱。日本建造的研究舱将于今年晚些时候送往空间站。

After the launch, NASA administrator⁵ Michael Griffin said the international cooperation has been important to expanding the space station.

"This is a real partnership⁶ among nations and among societies to bring together a capability⁷ greater than any one nation can bring by itself," he said.

NASA officials have scheduled at least five shuttle flights this year to meet a 2010 deadline to finish construction of the space station.