Page last updated at 19:42 GMT, Monday, 16 November 2009

Nasa's Atlantis shuttle blasts off

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The US space shuttle Atlantis has successfully launched from Florida on a journey to deliver spare parts - and up to a million microscopic worms - to the International Space Station.

The mission is set to include three spacewalks to store hardware on the outside of the orbiting outpost. The worms will be used in experiments aimed at helping scientists understand why human muscles waste away in zero gravity.

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