NASA lights a candle on July 4th

Space Shuttle Discovery successfully blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon in a first-ever Indepence Day launch for NASA.

“I have to say the very first time I experienced a launch I thought, ‘Well this is pretty cool,’” Shana Dale, NASA’s deputy administrator, told SPACE.com before today’s launch. “But I never expected the sense of patriotism I felt when the space shuttle went off…it’s just one of those proud moments that you have. You think, ‘Wow, I’m proud to be an American and this is the United States space program.’”

Godspeed, Discovery.