alan chernoff joins us with more. >> it was like looking into the sun. the sound as the shuttle rose was like a thunderous wind ripping through the sky. what a sight. what an experience. >> 2, 1, 0. and liftoff. >> reporter: the beginning of a mission marks the end of an era. >> america will continue the dream >> reporter: thrils launched as scheduled friday morning after some uncertainty. >> sentimental journey into history joo. yoo there was a wild card throughout. the weather. the four-member crew suited up this morning in anticipation of the scheduled liftoff and to the delight of crowds that gathered anywhere they could to get a glimpse of the historic launch, the four-person crew is now headed to the international space station to deliver supplies. this 135th shuttle miss will be mission specialist's rex waldheim's 13th mission in space. >> i thought, am i going to get to the right before it closes or am i going to the very end? >> reporter: only one someone who has done it before can describe it like canadian astronaut chris hatfield who flew on a

alan chernoff at the new york stock exchange watching this for us. ad. i mean, yeah. we are to the negative side and when we opened the dow lost 145 points in the first half hour of trading. but it really could be much, much worse. certainly no panic on wall street right now. the dow as you mentioned off 0.4%. the nasdaq composite off only one-third of 1%. s&p also down a bit. u.s. treasury bonds, which is the market that's most important here, they're off slightly, meaning that yields are up just a bit but, once again, no panic. one sign of a rush to safety, gold prices are rising. they hit an intraday record of more than $1600 an ounce. of course that's very important. investors on wall street obviously want to see a deal done but, still, the majority of analysts on the street are thinking, there is no way that the united states government is going to default. it just is not possible a lot of analysts believe. kyra, we'll see if they're right. >> we'll keep watching the numbers for sure. thanks. >>> australian cabbel evans probably pretty store this

alan chernoff met two of those guys in new york. >> reporter: steven just had his offer accepted on this bedroom coop apartment in white plains, new york for what he considers a steal. $217,000. >> i'm very excited. i feel like the market was right to buy and i took advantage of a situation. >> you're well on your way to closing. >> reporter: if only there were more buyers like steven. too many potential home buyers have been holding back, expecting prices may go even lower. are people responding? >> they are starting to. they are starting to respond. we have a bit. >> reporter: housing is in its worst slump in decades, declining prices, slow sales, anemic home building. all that bad news, some economists say, is laying the foundation for a recovery. >> the worst of the news, the quicker we get the rebound. a lot of the data looks bad right now but it does set the stage for future growth. >> reporter: here's how bad news could be good news for the economics of housing. housing supply today far outweighs demand but falling home prices should attract buyers, especially since rents are risi