Space Shuttle Discovery: Good to Go Today

Photo: Commander Mark Kelly aboard Discovery, courtesy NASA.

The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery is strapped into their vehicle as the countdown toward a 5:02 p.m. EDT launch proceeds smoothly at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STS-124 is the second of three flights that will ferry and install  components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory on the International Space Station.

They're also taking components to help with fixes of the Russian-provided toilet. The crew's primary mission is to  Kibo’s large Japanese Pressurized Module, or JPM, and its remote manipulator system, or RMS.

The RMS consists of two roboticarms that support operations outside of Kibo. The lab's logistics module, or JLM,which was installed in a temporary location during STS-123 in March, will be attachedto the new lab.

Discovery's 14-day flight carries the largest payload ever delivered  to the station andwill include three spacewalks. The shuttle also will deliver a Astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff , a Mission Specialist,  to a duty tour aboard the station. 
mission specialist on STS-124. He will take Astronaut Garrett E.
Reisman's place as an Expedition 17 flight engineer  STS-126.

The rest of the STS-124 crew includes Michael E. Fossum,  mission specialists; Kenneth T. Ham, pilot; Mark E. Kelly,
commander; Karen L. Nyberg, Ronald J. Garan and Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Akihiko Hoshide, all mission specialists.