Space Shuttle Discovery Sets off to International Space Station

World | March 16, 2009, Monday // 07:28|  views

Space Shuttle Discovery is lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, during its successful launch Sunday night. Photo by BGNES

NASA launched successfully the Space Shuttle Discovery Sunday from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

 

The launch, which had been put off twice by technical concerns – on February 12, and on March 11, was completed flawlessly at 7:43 PM EDT, BGNES news agency reported.

 

Thus, Discovery and its seven-member crew are headed to bring the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station (ISS). The devices are going to provide electricity for supporting the ISS crew and research activities.

 

The seven-member team of Discovery led by Commander Lee Archambault also includes Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will be the first Japanese to remain on the ISS. The mission of Space Shuttle Discovery is going to last for 13 days.

 

The International Space Station is the largest artificial satellite of the Earth, and is supposed to be completed by 2011. It is a project of the space agencies of the USA, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and the European Space Agency.

 

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Tags: European Space Agency, NASA, ISS, international space station, Space Shuttle Discovery

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