Space Shuttle Lifts Off on Hubble Servicing Mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space shuttle Columbia and a crew of seven blasted off Friday on an arduous mission to renovate the Hubble Space Telescope after a one-day wait for warmer launch weather. Columbia vaulted into the pre-dawn darkness as Hubble was passing more than 563 kilometres above the Gulf of Mexico and heading toward the Florida peninsula. The round-and-round-the-world chase should end Sunday. The launch was surrounded by extraordinarily tight security to guard against possible terrorist attack. F-15 fighter jets were on patrol, and a no-fly zone was in force within 60 kilometres of the launch pad.

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