Discovery ship flew into space

This morning 1.6 (VN time), space shuttle Discovery was launched into space by the US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), starting a 14-day mission to carry the main part of Japan's Kibo laboratory. Production version to the International Space Station (ISS).

Discovery ships leave the launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida (USA) at 17:00 on May 31 (local time, ie 4 hours 2 days 1.6 hours VN). Previously, the ship was expected to be launched on May 25, but due to problems when the fuel tank has not been brought in time because of bad weather, NASA postponed it until today.

The most important mission of Discovery ship flight is connecting Kibo's main unit into the ISS. This is a pressurized module with a cylindrical length of 11.2m, a diameter of 4.6m and a weight of 15.9 tons with a remote controlled robotic arm.

Kibo laboratory, Japanese means "hope" worth $ 3 billion, when completed it will be the largest and most modern ISS laboratory, for experiments in physics, biology and research on gravitational force.

Considered Japan's biggest contribution to the construction of the space station, Kibo needs three shuttle trains to assemble. The first part is a 4.2-ton, 3.9m long, 4.4m-long ELM-PS logistics module that was put on board by Endeavor at the end of March. The final part is the telecommunications system, which is expected to be on orbit in March next year.

Along with the Kibo mission, Discovery crew is also responsible for replacing the nitrogen fuel tank of the station's cooling system; as well as checking and cleaning the rings of solar absorbers.

In addition, astronauts have an extremely important job of repairing ISS toilets. Currently, the liquid waste collector on the station is malfunctioned, so the ISS astronauts have to temporarily use the toilet room of the Soyuz, but the capacity of this chamber is very limited. Discovery will bring a pump to restore the restroom's operation. During repairs, astronauts will temporarily use Discovery's toilet cubicle.

Discovery this time carries the STS-124 code with 7 people: commander Mark Kelly, Kenneth Ham pilot, astronauts Gregory Chamitoff, Michael Fossum, Karen Nyberg (female), Ronald Garan and Akihiko Hoshide (Japanese, from the Japan Space Exploration Agency - JAXA).

Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff will stay at the station to perform the task of completing the Kibo lab connection, replacing Garrett Reisman, who was put on by Endeavor at the end of March.

Some photos when Discovery ship left the launch pad and crew on board.(Photo: Reuters)