Up, up and away at last

There were delays due to a lightning strike, an approaching hurricane, the fuel cells, and a fuel tank sensor, but the space shuttle Atlantis is in orbit at last with Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean on board. All the delays did move the launch back to a Saturday, which meant I was able to watch it on TV: nervewracking at first, but also exciting. (A number of the other Canadian astronauts were brought in on different channels to provide commentary.) I suppose we'll have to wait and see if everything went all right on the climb into orbit and during the mission itself, but for now things look good.