Discovery heads for space
Tuesday, 23 Oct 2007 19:05
Discovery successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Centre
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Discovery successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Centre this afternoon and is travelling to the International Space Station (ISS).
The space shuttle and its seven astronauts will spend 14 days in space after what Nasa described as a "flawless lift-off".
It is currently in orbit and is carrying an Italian-built US multi-port module for the ISS.
The module, known as Harmony, will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules.
Lead station flight director Derek Hassman has described Harmony as "the gateway to the international partners".
"As the station is configured today, there's nowhere to put all the international partner modules until we deliver and activate [Harmony]," he said. "That's the piece that makes the rest possible."
Astronaut Dan Tani is to stay on at the ISS as a new station crew member, taking the place of current station resident Clayton Anderson who will return to Earth with the STS-120 crew.
As well as installing Harmony, the astronauts will also move a tower of solar arrays to its new position on the orbiting laboratory.
Discovery is scheduled to return to Earth on November 6th.
