Successful launch for Endeavour

The US space shuttle Endeavour had a successful launch on its first mission for almost five years - ending a long wait for one woman.

Barbara Morgan, who was a standby for the Challenger shuttle when it exploded shortly after lift-off, finally made it into space, 21 years after that tragic day.

The 55-year-old was part of the Teachers in Space programme alongside Christa McAuliffe, who died alongside six other astronauts in the Challenger disaster.

Civilians were subsequently banned from space flights but Ms Morgan quit the classroom and joined the astronaut corps in 1998.

The mission, which launched from Florida, will take the crew to the International Space Station.

It is the second of four planned by Nasa this year in a bid to complete construction of the $100 billion (£49.08 bn) space station before the three remaining US shuttles are retired in 2010.

Endeavour has not flown since before the February 1, 2003, Columbia disaster, in which seven astronauts were killed when their spacecraft disintegrated on re-entry into the atmosphere.

Nasa now monitors lift-offs with dozens of cameras and shuttle crews scrutinise their ship's heat-resistant tiles when they reach space.

Endeavour has undergone an extensive overhaul since its last flight in November 2002 and the US space agency says it is virtually new.

The mission comes as the astronaut corps is under scrutiny after allegations last month that a drunken astronaut was allowed to fly on a Russian spacecraft and another almost flew on a shuttle.

Nasa managers have launched an investigation and vowed to reinforce a 12-hour ban on alcohol before space flights

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