American spacecraft left the launch pad

The space shuttle Discovery darted into the night sky, leaving a huge trail of smoke below, beginning its mission to upgrade the 14-day ISS International Space Station.

Discovery ship is available on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida state.

Discovery is scheduled to launch last month but is postponed due to technical problems related to the fuel valve on the vessel's external fuel tank.

Discovery's 7-person crew stepped out of the operating area towards the shuttle.

The astronauts are about to enter the ship from the launch pad. Among these are Koichi Wakata (middle), the first Japanese astronaut to work permanently on the ISS station.

The countdown clocked back to the time when Discovery ship left the launch pad in the presence of many paparazzi.

Discovery ship roared off the ground and rushed into the air.

Huge white smoke column left behind Discovery's path.