beecareful - news: British astronaut has lift off

British astronaut has lift off
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Beecareful  on 08/02/2010 14:13:00

Endeavour, with six crew on board including British-born Dr Nicholas Patrick,
took off in darkness from Cape Canaveral at 9.14 GMT - 4.14am in Florida - after
the weekend's planned launch was scuppered by bad weather with just minutes to
go.
Dr Patrick, 45, originally from Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, is part
of a team who will spend 13 days working on the International Space Station.
The mission - which will feature three spacewalks - comes as America prepares
to scale back its space programme.
Only four more shuttle flights are scheduled.
The White House has announced it is to axe the Constellation mission, which had
aimed to take space travellers back to the Moon.
Much of the money saved in the process will be directed toward new rocket
technology research, the US administration has said, but there are likely to be
funding cuts.
Dr Patrick is part of a small band of British-born astronauts to have made it
into space.
A space veteran, he has already logged 308 hours in space.
Copyright (c) Press Association 2010