Ya done good, guys

The US today launched its first manned space flight since the February 2003 Columbia disaster.

At 10.39am local time (3.39 BST), the countdown began and space shuttle Discovery, faulty fuel gauge fixed, launched from Cape Canaveral, in Florida.

Piggy-backed on its giant, rust-coloured fuel tank, Discovery and its seven crew rocketed into a partially cloudy sky in the fleet's 114th launch since Columbia left Earth on April 12 1981.

— Discovery blasts off into space, in The Guardian

Yeah, okay, there's still lots of room for muttering that these heavy, creaky shuttlebuses to low orbit are eating up a lot of money, attention and time from the program that's sent men to the moon and robots into the Kuiper belt... but said griping aside, it's still great to see them back on the horse that threw them. Go, Discovery!