Space shuttle Discovery has lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre on its final ever mission.
Discovery launched a few minutes after its 9.50pm (GMT) take-off time on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS), and when it returns next month it will be the first of the three-member fleet to enter retirement.

The end of the US space shuttle program creates a gaping hole in the US space program during a period of belt-tightening and budget freezes and leaves Russia's space capsules as the sole transit option to the ISS.