Rockets' Red Glare


NASA/KSC

Space Shuttle Discovery soared into space with today's spectacular July 4th launch. While some small debris were spotted falling from the External Tank, analysis so far does not indicate any major problem. Discovery is set to dock with the International Space Station on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong Il had to grab attention with some fireworks of his own as North Korea test fired several missiles today around the same time as the Discovery launch. The anticipated test of a long range missile apparently turned out to be a dud, failing early in flight.