CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven blasted off Saturday, carrying a giant Japanese lab addition to the international space station along with something more mundane: a toilet pump.
Commander Mark Kelly called Saturday's launch "the greatest show on Earth."
Discovery roared into a brilliant blue sky dotted with a few clouds at 5:02 p.m. Saturday, right on time.
The shuttle's trip to the space station should take two days. Once there, Discovery's crew will unload and install the $1 billion lab and hand-deliver a specially made pump for the outpost's finicky toilet.
The school-bus-size lab, named Kibo, Japanese for hope, will be the biggest room by far at the space station and bring the orbiting outpost to three-quarters of completion.
"It's a gorgeous day to launch," NASA's launch director, Mike Leinbach, told the astronauts just before liftoff, wishing them good luck and Godspeed.
Read more [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]!
05-31-2008
Similar Threads 
