The space shuttle Discovery is preparing for a launch at 17:02 ET [21:02 GMT]. The mission, named STS-124, will deliver the main section of Japan's science lab known as Kibo, or "Hope". It is the third orbiter mission of 2008 and the first to fly the "in-line" external fuel tank. The mission will also take up a new pump to repair the station's toilet that has failed in the Zvezda service module. The toilet failed last week, and the ISS crew have had to flush the unit manually - an operation which takes two people 10 minutes to do. A replacement pump was rushed from Russia to be loaded onto Discovery for delivery to the ISS.
[BBC / CNN / NASA mission page]
[BBC / CNN / NASA mission page]
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