国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

   
 

Space shuttle Discovery lifts off, bringing 'hope' to ISS

(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-01 08:33

CAPE CANAVERAL, THE UNITED STATES -- US space shuttle Discovery, with seven astronauts aboard, soared into space at 5:02 pm EDT (2102 GMT) on Saturday as scheduled from its seaside launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Spectators watch from Titusville, Florida as the space shuttle Discovery launches from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida May 31, 2008. [Agencies]
"Best of luck to the International Space Station's newest laboratory!" NASA launch commentator Allard Beutel broadcasted.

The afternoon weather in this Atlantic coastal area cooperated fairly with clear skies and a comfortable breeze.

Several minutes after the liftoff, controllers confirmed a good solid rocket booster separation and external fuel tank separation." It's a flawless ascent," said the ground control center. Discovery is "in its preliminary orbit," and it will chase the space station during the next two days.

At the post-launch, NASA administrator described the launch day as a "huge day," with everything going extremely smoothly.

Led by Commander Mark Kelly, the six-man, one-woman Discovery crew includes Akihiko Hoshide, who represents the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The main goal of Discovery's STS-124 mission is to deliver the main part -- Pressurized Module -- of JAXA's Kibo (which means "hope" in Japanese) laboratory to the station.

This is the second of three flights that will launch components to complete Kibo, which is Japan's primary contribution to the ISS program.

The Pressurized Module of Kibo is 37 feet long and 14.4 feet in diameter, about the size of a large tour bus. It will be the biggest room once installed at the orbital outpost.

After linkup with the ISS, the shuttle and station crew will install Kibo science module to the left side of the Harmony connecting node, opposite to the European Columbus science lab that was installed in February.

They will also assemble Kibo's remote manipulator system, which consists of two robotic arms that supports operations outside of Kibo.

   1 2 3 4 5 6   


Related Stories  
Top China News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
米易县| 青州市| 青冈县| 政和县| 保靖县| 乐安县| 德清县| 新民市| 时尚| 甘谷县| 永顺县| 盐城市| 探索| 峨眉山市| 桑植县| 建平县| 吉木乃县| 兴业县| 通辽市| 简阳市| 金寨县| 昭苏县| 萍乡市| 皮山县| 静安区| 资中县| 中西区| 德安县| 内江市| 化德县| 扶绥县| 邹平县| 昆明市| 鸡东县| 阳朔县| 尚志市| 衡东县| 阿克苏市| 北安市| 怀集县| 华阴市|